May  27,  189'A 
JOURNAL  OP  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER 
459 
Stephanotis,  with  a  little  Myrtle,  Orange  blossom,  and  Asparagus 
plumosus  nanus  intermixed.  Malmaison  Carnations  are  in  great 
demand  for  bridesmaids,  and  so  are  yellow,  pink,  and  red  Roses, 
Ixias,  Plumbagos,  and  Marguerite  Carnations.  Trails  of  Asparagus 
deflexus  are  also  largely  used  for  hanging  from  the  bouquets,  with 
a  few  flowers  wired  to  them. 
Making  a  bouquet  seems  to  some  persons  a  formidable  task,  but 
like  all  work  connected  with  floral  decorations  it  becomes  simple 
enough  with  practice,  provided  the  operator  has  a  fair  amount  of 
taste  and  liking  for  the  work.  All  flowers  used  for  the  purpose 
should  be  wired,  and  it  is  by  doing  this  in  a  suitable  way  that 
the  road  to  suc¬ 
cess  is  found. 
The  style  of 
flowers  used 
varies  consider¬ 
ably,  and  each 
must  be  treated 
in  a  way  suited 
to  its  peculiari¬ 
ties. 
Let  us  take,  for 
instance,  Lily  of 
theYalley.  Every 
flower  of  these 
ought  to  be  wired 
with  thin  wire 
the  whole  length 
of  the  stalk,  twist¬ 
ing  the  wire  deftly 
between  the  bells. 
Roses  require 
stouter  wire  to 
be  passed  through 
the  calyx,  and,  in 
the  case  of  those 
almost  full  blown, 
through  the  base 
of  the  petals. 
Euchari*  should 
have  a  thin  wire 
pushed  through 
the  tube  of  the 
flower  just  under 
the  cup,  a  little 
cotton  wool  may 
then  be  wrapped 
round  the  tube, 
and  the  flower  be 
mounted  on  a  stiff 
wire.  Gardenias 
and  Carnations 
need  one  or  two 
fairly  strong  wires 
to  be  pushed 
through  the  calyx, 
the  -ends  being 
then  twisted  to¬ 
gether.  Orange 
blossom  and  Ste¬ 
phanotis  should 
have  every  pip 
wired.  Many 
Orchids  require 
very  careful 
handling  to  pre¬ 
vent  injury,  and 
in  the  case  of  such 
a  little  cotton 
wool  should  be  placed  around  the  stem  or  tube  of  the  flower 
before  the  wire  is  twisted  around  it. 
When  the  whole  of  the  flowers  and  a  good  amount  of  Aspa¬ 
ragus  has  been  wired  some  should  be  mounted  on  longer  wires,  and 
others  made  up  into  little  loose  bunches  with  some  greenery  inter¬ 
mixed.  To  illustrate  my  meaning,  let  us  suppose  that  a  bouquet 
is  to  be  made  entirely  of  Lilies  of  the  Valley .  If  three  or  four 
spikes  are  wired  together,  a  leaf  added,  and  the  flowers  then 
arranged  in  position  by  bending  the  wires  slightly  so  that  they 
stand  almost  clear  of  each  other,  it  is  easy  to  comprehend  that  a 
number  of  these  little  bunches  fastened  together  could  be  made  to 
form  a  bouquet  of  almost  any  required  shape.  Now  let  us  suppose 
that  Gardenias  and  Lilies  are  to  be  used  in  combination.  The 
former  must  then  be  used  as  a  groundwork,  with  spikes  of  the 
latter  standing  well  up  above  them  here  and  there,  a  few  leaves 
Fig.  91.— CERASUS  VIRGINIANA; 
of  Asparagus  plumosus  nanus  being  also  mixed  in  as  the  work 
proceeds.  These  two  illustrations  will,  I  think,  serve  to  show  the 
manner  of  dealing  with  flowers  of  various  types  ;  the  principle  is 
to  use  the  heavy  ones  for  groundwork,  with  sprays  of  spiky  flowers 
rising  above  them. 
In  making  bouquets  an  important  point  to  remember  is  that 
the  weight  should  be  kept  as  low  as  possible,  therefore  no  more 
material  ought  to  be  used  than  is  absolutely  necessary.  For  very 
large  ones  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  use  a  central  stick,  but  for 
those  of  moderate  size  it  may  be  dispensed  with.  At  the  start  I 
usually  bind  up  a  neat  bunch  to  form  the  centre  ;  the  stems 
of  these  flower* 
being  strongly 
wired  gives  a  firm 
foundation  to 
work  upon.  For 
binding  I  prefer 
string  to  wire,  as 
it  seems  to  hold 
the  flowers  in 
position  better, 
and  by  giving  it 
a  half  hitch  occa¬ 
sionally  there  is 
no  fear  of  slip¬ 
ping.  As  each 
ring  of  flowers  is 
added  a  little  moss 
should  be  worked 
around  the  stem 
of  the  bouquet,  to 
enable  the  ope¬ 
rator  to  fasten 
them  in  the  exact 
position  required ; 
but  as  little  as 
possible  ought  to 
be  used,  as  it  adds 
so  greatly  to  the 
weight. 
If  any  difficulty 
is  experienced  in 
fixing  the  flowers 
exactly  as  re¬ 
quired,  a  few 
sprigs  of  Box 
may  be  wired 
and  worked  in 
between  the  stems 
of  the  flowers,  the 
points  of  the  Box, 
of  course,  being 
underneath  the 
flowers.  As  the 
bouquet  increase* 
in  circumference 
longer  and 
stronger  wires 
must  be  used  for 
mounting,  and  if 
several  small 
bunches  are  fast¬ 
ened  to  one  main 
stem  the  handle 
can  be  kept  quite 
small  enough  to 
draw  through  the 
bouquet  paper 
with'ease.  Before 
this  is  fastened  on  a  fringe  of  the  Asparagus  should  be  placed 
around  the  flowers,  allowing  it  to  project  far  enough  to  almost 
hide  the  paper  when  placed  in  position.  Shoots  of  Myrtle  must 
always  be  intermixed  with  a  bridal  bouquet,  and  these  ought 
to  rise  well  above  the  flowers.  The  addition  of  a  wickerwork  or 
paper  holder,  with  a  few  ribbons  to  match  the  colour  of  the  flowers, 
completes  the  arrangement.  The  holder  must  be  secured  to  the 
paper  with  strong  pins,  made  expressly  for  the  purpose. 
In  making  a  shower  bouquet  a  somewhat  different  form  of 
procedure  has  to  be  pursued.  The  body  of  it  in  this  case  may  be 
either  round,  rather  flat,  or  conical,  as  taste  may  dictate,  and  when 
this  part  is  made  up  the  “showers”  should  be  constructed 
separately.  They  are  formed  on  the  same  principle  as  long  slender 
shoulder  sprays,  starting  from  a  very  thin  point ;  the  shower 
gradually  widens  as  it  increases  in  length,  and  may  be  from  3  to 
