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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



July, 1 910 



Decorations and Furnishings for the Home 



By Alice M. Kellogg 



V — A Talk on Flower Holders 



► HE spring and summer seasons mark an era 

 of particular interest to the home maker. 

 At this time, decorative touches may be 

 contributed throughout the house with 

 flowering plants and blossoms, often at 

 no cost except the trouble of gathering 

 and arranging them. 

 The home garden naturally affords the largest choice in 

 cut flowers, and it is the custom in many country places to 

 cultivate a special plot of ground for this purpose. Here 

 the hand of the invader may ply the shears on both foliage 

 and blossoms without destroying the symmetrical effect of 

 the garden proper. 



In the suburbs 

 and country where 

 wild flowers and 

 shrubs are avail- 

 able, one may keep 

 a continuous bloom 

 in the house, begin- 

 ning with the quaint 

 branches of the 

 pussy willow, and 

 following the ad- 

 vancing steps of 

 spring through the 

 peach, cherry, pear 

 and apple blossoms, 

 and such ground 

 flowers as blood- 

 root, anemone, ar- 

 butus and violets. 

 Even cowslips and 

 dandelions have a 

 decorative interest 

 if taken up with 

 their roots about 

 them and planted 

 in a box made of 

 birch bark. As 

 frost approaches 

 and the flowers dis- 

 appear there is still 

 something provided 

 by nature for home 

 decoration in wild 

 grasses and 

 branches of trees 

 that are distinctive 



in outline. How many opportunities the flower season af- 

 fords for home decoration can hardly be understood except 

 by the sincere lover of nature. Someone has said 

 that a specific note of refinement is contributed to a 

 room by a jar of flowers, and it is undeniable that 

 the attention may be diverted from obtrusively in- 

 harmonious furnishings by the beauty of even a single 

 rose. 



On the disposition of plants and flowers in the interior 

 of the home, however, depends much of their artistic suc- 

 cess. In the various illustrations some suggestive ideas 

 are given as to suitable holders for flowers, and various 

 ways for their placing. 



A set of glass vases 



In the first illustration a set of four small glass vases 

 mark the corners of the lace centerpiece, with a larger 

 holder of the same type in the middle. A decoration of 

 this kind is desirable for breakfasts and luncheons in place 

 of candles and candlesticks, and small flowers with ir- 

 regular foliage adapt themselves to the slender vases better 

 than large, stiff blossoms. The cost of these "corner" 

 vases is inconsiderable compared with their usefulness 

 (sixty-five cents each), as they may be distributed 

 about the house when not in requisition in the dining- 

 room. 



A simple treatment for the dining table is a fern, 

 and its interest is enhanced if it is planted in a jar- 

 diniere of pleasing 

 shape and color. 

 Some of the Jap- 

 anese jars in a plain 

 green, glazed or 

 dull finish, may be 

 bought for fifty 

 cents. From our 

 own American pot- 

 teries there are also 

 jardinieres of real 

 merit. 



Some attractive 

 holders for plants 

 made from differ- 

 ent materials are 

 shown in the illu- 

 stration. At the ex- 

 treme left is a fern 

 dish of pierced 

 brass costing three 

 dollars. The ham- 

 mered brass dish 

 next may be bought 

 for the same price. 

 These pieces have 

 the advantage of 

 linings that fit in- 

 side the jardiniere 

 for holding the 

 earth, and also of 

 being raised by 

 little feet to prevent 

 any moisture from 

 injuring a table. 

 The geranium in 

 the center is planted in a common terra cotta pot which is 

 slipped into the hand-woven Japanese basket. The copper 

 jardiniere at the right of the basket costs the same as the 

 two fern holders at the left. The more ornate holder at 

 the extreme right is suited to a drawing-room or parlor 

 ($7.50). 



A glass bowl with silver work on its outer surface ap- 

 pears in another illustration as a holder for pond lilies. 

 The metal and glass combined in this way do not detract 

 from the delicacy of the coloring of the blossoms. Glass 

 and silver are also united in making a flat plate or pla- 

 teau, which is used as a mat for vase or jardiniere. Some- 

 times a colored print Is covered with glass and bound with 



