FLOWER ARRANGEMENTS. 
Beautiful flower arrangement is an 
art that all can develop. Every hand¬ 
ful of flowers carries with it the possi¬ 
bility of a beautiful creation. Simplic¬ 
ity should be the predominating note in 
all flower arrangements, in fact it is 
the keynote of refinement. A good ar¬ 
rangement brings out the beauty of the 
flowers and at the same time is pleasing 
and restful to the eye. 
The Container 
The essential container should al¬ 
ways occupy a secondary place. We 
are endeavoring to bring out the beauty 
of the flowers rather than that of the 
container, therefore a vase should never 
be selected that is more elaborate than 
the flowers it is to contain. We should 
also endeavor to have the texture of the 
vase and flowers harmonize. Careful 
selection of the container often deter¬ 
mines whether or not we can use the 
flowers available. Huge, coarse flow¬ 
ers such as Zinnias and Dahlias do not 
look their best if placed in a vase ex¬ 
pressing refinement, nor do fine, deli¬ 
cate flowers such as Roses and Lily-of- 
the-Valley look well in a vase of heavy 
texture. Likewise whenever possible 
the container and the flowers should 
be selected with reference to the place 
they are to occupy, for example, the 
bouquet for the dinner table should, 
as a rule, be placed in a low bowl and 
not exceed fourteen inches in height. 
In an article in the Gardeners’ Chron¬ 
icle Anthony Sailer gives the following 
general interesting rules: 
“Spring flowers are most happily dis¬ 
played in pottery; Summer flowers in 
glass and porcelain; Autumn and Win¬ 
ter flowers in pewter, brass or copper, 
if berries, foliage or evergreens are 
also used. 
“Roses, particularly the pinks and 
whites should always be in crystal con¬ 
tainers. 
“Zinnias are most effective in a dark 
blue, black or shiny copper bowl. A 
light green or dark blue glass container 
is the thing for Marigold Guinea Gold.” 
See page 4 for notes on color har¬ 
mony. 
Bouquets consisting of a mixture of 
all colors will be kept in balance if 
warm colors are not used in excess. 
Keep the lighter tints high in the ar¬ 
rangement and the deeper tones at the 
base. 
Every bouquet or basket of flowers 
should have a point of interest. In an 
arrangement of mixed flowers the point 
of interest may be brought out by the 
use of a dominent variety or color a 
little to one side of the lower center. 
Only one dominant variety should 
be used in a mixed bouquet. 
Crowding of the flowers should be 
avoided. A few flowers well arranged 
permits each flower to express its own 
individuality, as to texture color and 
form. 
Avoid top heaviness. Dark colors 
and large flowers should be near the 
base. Light colors, buds and half- 
opened flowers should be placed higher 
in the arrangement. 
Flowers for 
Many of us are members of a garden 
club which gives flower shows during 
the garden season. Taking part in 
these shows is an enjoyable part of 
gardening from which we may gain 
many ideas as to how to display, ar¬ 
range and use flowers in our homes. 
In preparing your flowers for exhibit, 
consideration of the following points 
will be helpful: 
1. Freshness. Never exhibit a fad¬ 
ed flower. 
2. Are the blossoms perfect, free 
from blemishes, dead petals, insect and 
disease injury, correct size? In spike 
flowers like Delphinium the stems 
Exhibition. 
should be free from wilting flowers and 
seed pods. 
3. Stems, straight, firm, correct 
length. Remove all surplus side shoots. 
4. Foliage—Healthy, good color, 
free from insect and disease injury. 
Remove all wilting leaves. 
5. Uniformity—In making up an ex¬ 
hibit of several blossoms consider uni¬ 
formity of size and color, which adds 
greatly to the appearance of the exhibit. 
6. Flowers will hold up better dur¬ 
ing the exhibit if they have been placed 
deepiy in cold water for about 12 
hours before exhibiting. 
Keeping Cut Flowers in 
The Home. 
When the flowers are cut from your 
garden, if possible, cut them before 
nine o’clock in the morning. After the 
preliminary preparation place them as 
deeply as possible in cold water and in 
a cool place until wanted for use. It is 
a good idea to treat them the same way 
when obtained from the florist. 
All the foliage on that part of the 
stem to be in water permanently should 
be removed. Change the water daily, 
and make a fresh slanting cut at the 
bottom of the stem. Keep the flowers 
out of a draft. Place them in a cool 
place at night. 
Plant Diseases 
Disease control is best accomplished 
by prevention. Give the plants plenty 
of air. Do not keep the foliage always 
wet. Remove old dead leaves and prac¬ 
tice general sanitation. Bordeaux 
mixture, applied as a liquid or in the 
dust form is the best general remedy 
to use. Dusting sulphur is also good. 
Bugs 
Three classes of insects are injurious 
to our plants, (1) Sucking insects, 
which suck the juice from the leaves 
and stems. (2) Biting insects, they eat 
the foliage and flowers. (3) Borers, 
which work inside the stems and crowns 
of our plants. 
For the sucking insects (aphids, the 
most common one), we spray the plants 
and insects with a tobacco or pyrethrum 
solution. A tobacco solution may be 
made by soaking tobacco stems in hot 
water, or a concentrated solution as 
Nicofume or Black Leaf 4 0 may be pur¬ 
chased. At our nursery we generally 
use Nicofume when there are no blos¬ 
soms on the plants. When blossoms are 
present we use evergreen. 
Bugs and Plant Diseases. 
For the insects that eat the foliage 
either Paris Green or arsenate of lead 
is sprayed on the foliage. 
In the case of borers, they are either 
cut out or the plant is pulled up and 
burned. 
Cut Worms 
Cutworms are the larval stage of 
the various brown and gray night-fly¬ 
ing moths so plentiful during the sum¬ 
mer. One of the best ways to get rid 
of cutworms is to keep the garden free 
from weeds, old leaves and other rub¬ 
bish so that they will not have a suit¬ 
able home for the winter. Late fall 
digging of the garden helps to destroy 
many of them. 
Hand picking the worms is a sure 
but slow method of control. 
In the spring when cutworms are 
working, the poison bran mash is the 
best remedy to use. Circular 48 of the 
University of Minnesota gives the fol¬ 
lowing formulas for preparing the 
mash. (Proportions for a small gar¬ 
den) . 
(1) Bran, 1 quart 
Paris Green, 1 heaping tsp. 
Molasses, teacup 
Water to moisten 
(2) Bran, 5 pounds 
Paris Green, x /4 pound 
Molasses, 1 teacupful 
Water to moisten. 
Mix the bran and paris green until 
every particle of bran has a slight 
greenish tinge. Add the molasses 
and enough water to make a moist 
and crumbly mash. See that all the 
bran is broken up fine and that there 
are no lumps left. 
Warning: This mash is poisonous to 
birds and poultry and other animals. 
Controlling Gladiolus Thrip 
(During the growing season) 
2 formulas that have given good re¬ 
sults when used carefully. 
(1) Lead arsenate, 3 % ounces 
Derrisol, 4 ounces 
Glue, 1 pound 
Water, 10 gallons 
(2) Paris Green, 2 tablespoonfuls 
Brown Sugar, 2 pounds 
Water, 3 gallons 
Start spraying early in the season 
and repeat at frequent intervals. In a 
severe epidemic it is necessary to spray 
four or five times at intervals of 4 8 
hours. 
Page 10 
