File:The American florist - a weekly journal for the trade (1910) (18140530015).jpg

Title: The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade
Identifier: americanfloristw43amer (find matches)
Year: 1885 (1880s)
Authors: American Florists Company
Subjects: Floriculture; Florists
Publisher: Chicago : American Florist Company
Contributing Library: UMass Amherst Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
jqio. The American Florist. 42 r florists' Flowers and Their Arrangement. A paper read by A. C. Wilshire. before the Montreal Gardeners' and Florists' Club, August 1. 1910. Before going into my subject proper I would like to suggest some of the qualifications that I consider necessarj' to make a successful florist from an artistic point of view. First, some natural taste is indis- pensible for practice will undoubtedly do much. The lack of this will show itself in all we do and back of this must be a love of flowers for their own sake, not so much of the commercial spirit that sees nothing but so many dollars and cents in the beautiful things around us, it is also necessary to have some originality. The ability to present the same ma- terial in new form will create and maintain an interest in our products with those to whom we cater. Added to these should be the knack of mak- ing the most of the material at our disposal. The uncertainties of our business often finds us with very little to fill pressing orders and here schem- ing and contriving are brought into play and if this quality is present some of the best work will sometimes be turned out. Other things being equal, any one thus equipped will have the advantage in the struggle for success. My experience as a florist dates back some 25 years. At that time we had to depend upon a very different class of flowers to those we handle today. Everything was cut short and made- up work was necessary of the stiffest kind. New methods, the bringing out of more variety and higher quality changed the whole aspect of the trade. With the improvement in the quality of the flowers came the fashion of cutting long stems, and we went to the other extreme and had American Beauties and chrysanthemums three to four feet, carnations two feet, and so on. The evolution of the rose and the carnations has been most marked since that time, new varieties have been constantly introduced, to be in turn discarded for better. Prom a re- tailer's point of view it seems a pity that some of these should have been dropped. Take Papa Gontier rose—a far better bud for gentlemen's button- holes than any that exist today. Mad Hoste, a delicate creainv shade and perfect form. Perle des Jardine, the only yellow we had, has been taken from us and nothing given to replace it. In fact, there has been a tendency to narrow down the varieties of both the rose and carnation to those that are the most prolific. I am glad to say that this does not apply so much to chrysanthemum, and that mere size does not count for every- thing with the grower. The Introduction of the orchid as a florist's flower enables us to meet the demand for something out of the ordinary and their use gives a tone to the best class of work that would be otherwise lacking. At this season sweet peas and asters are our chief standby. It is much to be regretted that better provision Is not made for the store trade of sum- mer, which though not large is better than formerly. The roses we have to offer need to be apologized for and. to say the least, are no improvement on those of ten years ago. FLORAL OFFERINGS. In the making up of floral offerings many florists still use wire and tooth picks. We use neither and believe that by this method a more natural and certainly more lasting effect is produced. As in all other set work we try to place each flower so that its full form sicken people of this custom of send- ing offerings to deceased friends than the uninteresting sameness of so much of this work. While color is not barred as it used to be, I think soft shades are best adapted for this purpose, and under no purpose should more than one color be used. Avoid overcrowd- ing in this as in all other arrange- ments when one kind of flower is used and a stiff effect is liable to occur.
Text Appearing After Image:
is shown, using the best material at our disposal. When a number of de- signs are being sent for one occasion, it is best to vary them as much as possible. Nothing dees so much to This can be overcome by varying the length of the stems, and placing over- head some very light and gracefvil green, such as maiden hair fern or in flowers Gypsophila, Spiraea, etc.

Note About Images