270 



THE FLOWER GROWER'S GUIDE. 



They border on the ridiculous, and are evidences of disordered taste. Plain mirrors are 

 bad enough as adjuncts to flowers, and quite as far as we ought to go in that direction. 

 An arrangement of the simplest description is preferable to a poor attempt at something 

 elaborate. Especially it is desirable that only perfectly fresh, sweetly, though not 

 powerfully, scented flowers be used, and that the details be properly carried out, 

 slovenly workmanship marring what might otherwise have been a complete success. 



Plants are, in many instances, freely employed for table decoration, both on the score 

 of economy and also because they associate well with flowers, and add to the general 

 effect. The plants really suitable for the purpose are by no means numerous. They 

 ought to be light, elegant, and of good colour — that is to say either a rich, healthy 

 green, or brightly variegated and coloured. They must not be stiff, faulty in form, 

 dense, or clumsy. On extra long tables for a daylight luncheon, or for long tables lit 

 from the roof, a few tall, clear-stemmed plants of Cocos Weddelliana are permissible, 

 and, if there is no speech-making, quite correct. Perfect little plants, 15 inches or 

 less in height, of both Cocos Weddelliana and Geonomas gracilis and intermedia, are 

 among the best that can be used for table decorations. Latanias and kentias, as a rule, 

 are too heavy, though exception may sometimes be made in favour of Kentia 

 Belmoreana. An ideal table plant is found in Pandanus Veitchi, provided the plants 

 are smaller than shown in Fig. 157, for most tables. Crotons of the stamp of chelsoni, 

 Weismanni, angustifolium aureum, Countess, and others with bright, slender, arching 

 leaves, form admirable table plants, and to contrast well with them we have such Dracaenas 

 as Ernesti, nigrum angustifolium, Frederici, Alberti, and rubra. Neat, well-furnished 

 plants of Aralias — elegantissima, Veitchi, and gracillima — are among the most beau- 

 tiful table plants available. Eeidia glaucescens is a singularly beautiful plant, but 

 unfortunately a little apt to drop its leaves prematurely. Panax Victorias, Cyperus 

 natalensis, and Asparagus plumosus nanus are also employed. All the foregoing are 

 recommended for the beauty of their foliage. 



Only a very few flowering plants are suitable for table decoration, including fuchsias, 

 light pendulous begonias, such as fuchsioides, Carrieri, hybrida multiflora, Gloire de 

 Lorraine and John Heal. Thyrsacanthus rutilans is effective as a central plant, and 

 neat examples of Libonias floribunda and penrhosiensis are also used occasionally. 

 Spiraea floribunda is too dense, but thin, well-flowered plants of Spiraea astilboides 

 floribunda find favour, as also do small forced plants of Dielytra spectabilis. Bulbous- 

 rooted plants are mostly too heavy, though exception may be made in favour of Eoman 



