File:Florists' review (microform) (16679171361).jpg

Title: Florists' review (microform)
Identifier: 5205536_24_1 (find matches)
Year: [1] (s)
Authors:
Subjects: Floriculture
Publisher: Chicago : Florists' Pub. Co
Contributing Library: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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June 17, 1009. The Weekly Rorists' Review.
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A Peony Decoration by W. J. Smyth, Chicago. (;ueen of the autumn flowers, or the lily, leader of other white flowers for wed- ding decorations, can compare with the peony where striking effect is to be ob- tained upon a large scale. In the season (if June weddings, when the retail florist most often is called upon to decorate laige edifices, there is nothing which can be considered as a rival of the peony. The June wedding decorator would be lost without it. Its colors are so varied as to combine with any setting and the size of the flower not only makes it the best thing on the market in its season, but at the same time its price is so rea- sonable that it can be used in quantity by those who might not make equal use i)f other flowers. For commencement purposes there is no flower in season to compare with the peony, either for the decorations or for presentation bouquets. For funeral pur- poses nothing the skilled florisf can use makes a finer spray than white or light pink peonies, with Sprengeri, and for the money no other flower makes half so jjood a show. Indeed, there is hardly •tny place where flowers are used to which 'he peony is not splendidly adapted, and those retailers who are setting the trade the best example are making good use of the opportunity the flower of June presents. For Storage and Shipment. From a wholesaler 's point of view the l>eony is one of the important seasonal <rops. It has one advantage over prac- tically every other flower handled in quantity in the wholesale markets: many fine varieties can be cut in bud and stored for weeks without losing salabil- ity. The result is that the southern crop is stored to meet the great demand in northern markets for flowers for Memorial day, while the northern crop is stored to meet the requirements of late June, when roses and carnations are on the downward grade. The result is that the peony not only realizes a profitable price to growers, but is available when without it business would be lost. There is no better shipper than the peony when handled rightly. It was the demand for peony blooms in wholesale markets that gave rise to the principal demand for stock a few years ago. There have been many acres planted for this one purpose. As rapid increase in the production of any other flower would mean that the supply would quickly become unwieldy. With the peony there are none too many of those cut by men who have gone deeper into the subject than the mere spading up of a plot of ground for the roots. The mar- keting of stock in its best shape is no less important than the growing. Many a grower has lost his profit solely through his carelessness in marketing. Those florists who grow for their own retail trade find the peony doubly profit- able. First, they have the blooms for their cut flower trade; and, second, a well-established plant of any of the bet- ter sorts of peony, blooming on a florist's lawn, will invariably make buy- ers of those who see it—the florist sells the blooms in spring and the roots in autumn. In the Nursery. Ten years ago the nurseries that ha<l any considerable stock of peonies could be counted on one's fingers; today there is no nursery of prominence in the line of providing decorative material that does not have its peony department. Both wholesale and retail lists are issued for the mail trade, and the agents add a few peony roots to every order; no cus- tomer buying for his home grounds re- fuses to invest a dollar or two in peonies. A few years ago the wholesale busi- ness was extremely heavy, for nurseries were stocking up. They were cleaning out the common sorts and putting in stock of the new and best old varieties. The wholesale business with the nurseries is now no less than it has been, but it has changed in character. Where formerly the stock was wanted for planting by the purchaser, it now generally is wanted by him for sale again; in a great many cases he already has his orders by ones and twos and dozens when he buys by hundreds and thousands. In the Landscape. A use of the peony, which has as yet hardly begun to develop, is in landscape work. For mass effects there is no flower to equal it, and this use will become im- portant as soon as quantities of the best sorts can be had at reasonable figures. Indeed, already prices are where they are not an obstacle to those who appreciate the peony at its true worth for landscape effect. The nomenclature is a matter of importance to the landscape man, be- cause if in his own nursery he has not enough of the variety needed, he wants to know that he will get the identical sort when he orders elsewhere. This mat- ter is gradually being straightened out. rConcluded on pate 53.1

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