August, 1917 47 
ARRANGING ARTISTIC FLOWER COMBINATIONS 
T he Time, The Place and T he Flower 
NANCY D. DUNLEA 
COMBINATIONS 
HOLDER 
Yellow poppies (escholtzias) and wild oats. 
Yellow poppies and bachelor buttons. 
Yellow marigolds and bachelor buttons.. 
Yellow poppies and purple lupine. 
White marguerites and yellow marigolds. 
receptacle—birchbark or reed 
Red poppies, bachelor buttons and mayweed or pyrethrum. 
Magenta ivy geraniums and bright blue bachelor buttons. 
White fleurs-de-lis and live-oak buds. 
White sweet peas and Queen Anne’s lace. 
White roses and silver poplar leaves. 
Six or seven varieties of phlox. 
Pale yellow marguerites and blue plumbago. 
Pale yellow nasturtiums, mignonette, mist. 
Pink rambler roses and Oueen Anne’s lace. 
. . .Cream and green jardiniere 
(A large showy bouquet for a 
Pink carnations and Oueen Anne’s lace. 
large room or 
stage) 
Pink begonias, pink fuchsia and coarse ferns. 
One pink rose, pink verbena and pink fuchsia. 
Blue forget-me-nots, pink rosebuds, mist. 
Chinese lilies and freesias. 
Honeysuckle, plumbago and pink rosebuds. 
(Good for broad low 
centerpiece) 
Purple violets and one or two pink Cherokee roses... 
Purple frost flowers and goldenrod.. 
Pink roses and sprays of heliotrope. 
T HERE are great 
decorative possibili¬ 
ties in arranging flowers 
in a combination of two 
or more kinds. The 
amateur decorator, who 
keeps on the safe side 
and arranges only 
flowers of one kind for 
each flower holder, may 
achieve harmonious re¬ 
sults, but often creates 
effects that lack original¬ 
ity or distinction. 
Before combining 
flowers in bouquets for 
decoration, it is well to 
keep in mind the' follow¬ 
ing: the color of the 
background, the light 
and the number of 
flowers necessary to fill 
a space or to realize an artistic grouping. 
Why it is essential to consider the back¬ 
ground may readily be seen. A room in 
yellow would obviously offend if decorated 
with red roses, while the same red roses 
might add just the necessary warmth and 
distinction to a Colonial room in gray. 
The amount of light, both in the room 
and directly upon the flowers, should have 
similar consideration. For instance, a dark 
room with dark wall paper and few or 
north windows should not be decorated 
with dark red carnations, dahlias or violets. 
White fruit blossoms, bright yellow jon¬ 
quils or goldenrod are much more likely 
to show to advantage as well as lighten the 
somber appearance of the room. 
As to the quantity of flowers to use, a 
rule can hardly be given, but on the who'e 
it is better to have too few flowers than too 
many. On the other hand, the vogue for 
a single flower in a “bud vase” has been 
carried a little too far of 
late. One sees a single 
heavy rose almost cap¬ 
sizing a slender crystal 
vase, and again sees a 
solitary blossom set upon 
a vast table that reminds 
one that literally— 
“Full many a flower is 
born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness 
on the desert air.” 
The room, the light, the 
space and the kind of 
flowers are the main fac¬ 
tors in determining the 
number to use. 
In combining flowers, 
there are several advan¬ 
tages ; com m o n p 1 a ce 
flowers that ordinarily 
would hardly decorate 
may serve as a charming background for 
one or two expensive flowers from the 
florist’s; some cherished but limited garden 
flowers may be combined with more attain¬ 
able flowers or shrubs; wild flowers may be 
used with cultivated ones ; and striking color 
effects may be gained. 
On this page is a list of flower combina¬ 
tions that have evoked admiration and that 
may be helpful in suggesting other combi¬ 
nations to the reader. 
POTS AND PLANTS FOR THE INDOOR GARDEN 
Sturdy Growth and Abundant Bloom Can Follow Only Upon 
Knowledge and Care in Pot Sizes, Soil and Watering 
H AVE you been wise and planted a large 
number of seeds such as primroses, 
geraniums and other flowers for an in-the- 
house garden? Then here are some potting 
suggestions for your especial benefit. 
Very small pots should be used at first 
—2" or 23 / 2 ” in diameter—that the little 
plants may not be discouraged and lost in 
a mass of earth. The first thing a seedling 
tries to do when confined in a pot is to 
reach the air about the sides of the pot. In¬ 
stead of penetrating the mass of earth at 
random it strikes at once for the outside of 
the ball and weaves a network of roots 
over its entire surface. If the pot is too 
large, the task of reaching this outlying 
surface is too great for the little rootlets 
and they perish in the attempt. Also, too 
much unoccupied soil is liable to become 
sour or musty in the course of time. 
No drainage except a bit of charcoal or 
broken crock immediately over the hole in 
the bottom of the pot is required in this 
first potting, and even this may be omitted 
in the case of plants that show a decided tap 
root development. 
As soon as the plant has made sufficient 
IDA D. BENNETT 
growth to warrant an inspection of its roots 
they should be examined, and if the ball of 
eartb is found well covered with a network 
of them which looks alive and shows many 
white points, the plant should be immedi¬ 
ately shifted into a larger pot. 
Inspecting the Roots 
It is entirely possible to inspect the roots 
of any plant without in the least injuring it. 
Place the left hand over the top of the pot, 
with the fingers on either side of the plant, 
invert the pot and tap it lightly against the 
edge of the bed or stand. This will free the 
earth, which will drop out into the hand. 
If the root growth is insufficient, the plant 
should be returned to the pot and left to 
make further growth; in the meantime you 
should make such changes in treatment as 
may seem necessary for its improvement. If, 
however, the plant shows that it is ready 
for more room, a pot a size larger should 
be selected and partly filled with earth 
which should be worked well up about the 
sides so as to leave a hole about the size 
of the ball of earth to be placed in it. The 
ball should then be carefully slipped into 
its place and the earth pressed very lightly 
and firmly about it. 
This is the manner in which all subse¬ 
quent shiftings are made, increasing the size 
of the pot each time and, as the pots grow 
larger, adding more and more drainage 
until, with a 6" pot, 1" or more of broken 
charcoal and shards is used and a layer of 
sphagnum moss placed over this to prevent 
the earth's sifting down between the frag¬ 
ments and clogging them. 
One important thing to remember is that 
young seedling plants are not repotted 
but shifted-—mark the difference. Repot¬ 
ting is employed for plants which are ma¬ 
ture and have exhausted the sustenance in 
the soil, or have outgrown the root room or 
are unhealthy. When any of these condi¬ 
tions exists the plant is usually shaken free 
of the earth, and if any diseased or specially 
unhealthy condition exists, given a bath of 
tepid water and repotted in a fresh pot 
and clean soil. If it is necessary to use the 
old pot it should first be thoroughly cleansed 
and scalded. All diseased or dead roots 
should be removed when repotting plants, 
(Continued on page 58) 
