FLOWERS SUITABLE FOR CUTTING. 



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DESIGNS AND BOUQUETS T 



VARIETIES 



PRESENT age is one of vacil- 

 lating ideas in the relation of 

 flower lovers to buds and 

 blossoms. This is owing 

 largely to the craze of fash- 

 ionable society for change ; 

 what was considered "just 

 the thing " for the season of 

 1889 may be out of style and old-fashioned the 

 present season. So then, we may come to the 

 logical conclusion that in flowers as well as in cloth- 

 ing, fashion's decrees are as inexorable as were the 

 laws of the Medes and Persians. True, the skilled 

 artistic florist and decorator is to some extent the 

 arbiter of the social standing of those flowers which 

 he so deftly weaves into harmonious designs, and, if 

 he be diplomatic, is usually able to turn the tide of 

 fashion's vacillating mood in any direction he may 

 will, to a greater or less degree. 



In attempting a complete list of flowers in use for 

 bouquet and design making or other decorations, 

 some which may be named would be used in Chicago, 

 yet be entirely out of fashion in New York, and vict' 

 versa. Again, modes of arrangement are as re- 

 stricted to certain localities, as are flowers used : but 

 there are two fundamental principles of floral work, 

 the foundation on which rests the entire structure 

 and from which no artistic designer dare depart, 

 viz. : the harmony of colors and the suitability of 

 the blooms used in the formation of the design for 

 the purpose of both his work and the purpose for 

 which the design is intended. In these respects, 

 the amateur can make no mistake ; if he follows 

 strictly the law of color in nature, however crude 

 the mechanical part of his work, it will be a thing of 

 beauty. 



As a matter of fact, the true artist with flowers is 

 as varied in his modes of treatment as the knight of 

 the brush ; for while both may understand the 

 harmony and contrast of colors, one will be able to 

 fashion a design in a short space of time which may 

 be a "poem in nature," while the other, despite the 

 proper combination of colors, will show, as a result 

 of his work, a design not devoid of beauty, but 

 mechanically stiff. 



It is well for the amateur that many of the com- 

 mon garden flowers are suitable for floral design 



HE HARMONY OF COLORS 



FOR USE. 



work, else he might be puzzled, in his ignorance of 

 the art, how to make five dollars' worth of flowers 

 and two dollars' worth of work bring forth a design 

 which would be sold for ^25. 



In the formation of bouquets and designs, green 

 is, as a matter of course, indispensable ; it serves 

 as a background against which nearly all shades look 

 attractive ; in bouquet making or the arrangement 

 of flowers for corsage wear, green may be intro- 

 duced or not as is deemed best ; oftentimes the foli- 

 age of the flower used is sufficient, and indeed in 

 some fashionable circles is deemed the only correct 

 style. For designs, smilax. Asparagus te?iitissiiinis, 

 English ivy leaves, vinca, Lygodiuin scandcns and 

 adiantum are the principal greens used. For light 

 airy work and festooning, smilax is probably more 

 largely used than anything else ; while for close 

 compact designs. English ivy leaves are preferable. 



The list of flowers suitable for cutting covers a 

 most extensive field, embracing, as it does, all flow- 

 ers which do not easily droop nor whose petals fall 

 readily, and whose stems are sufficiently long and 

 stiff. Last summer the writer was called upon in 

 an emergency to prepare a presentation basket of 

 flowers and 250 boutonnieres, and two hours to do 

 the work in ! The basket took all the choice flowers 

 we had. for the trade had been heavy that day, and 

 we were obliged to fall back on what was growing 

 out of doors and the few remaining in the green- 

 house. Here is what we used : For green, sprigs of 

 smilax, rose geranium leaves, vinca leaves and sprigs 

 of rose bushes ; for flowers, ageratum, geraniums, 

 heliotrope, alyssum, violets, dianthus, carnations 

 and a few rose buds. True, the variety was great 

 and the flowers common, but our patrons were sat- 

 isfied. Of summer flowers, in addition to those 

 named, asters, pansies, roses, mignonette, fuchsias, 

 begonias, chrysanthemums and many of the blos- 

 soms from shrubbery may be used for floral work 

 with good effect. 



In the greenhouse, during winter, we have for use 

 orchids, roses, camellias, geraniums, carnations, 

 violets, begonias, ageratums, alyssum, mignonette, 

 heliotrope, chrysanthemums, stevias, tuberoses, 

 lilies of the valley, bouvardias, azaleas, callas and 

 other lilies, tulips, narcissus, marguerites, fete. The 

 list is certainly large enough to suit the most fastid- 



