372 FLOWER ARRANGEMENT

SOURCES OF PLANT MATERIAL

The Fields and Woods. Wild growth, including weeds, is a
plentiful source of plant material for arrangements. With wild
flowers one should use foliage and grasses that are their neighbors
where they grow. Branches of leaves are probably the most useful
of the wild material. Dead branches bearing moss, fungi, or lichens
should not be overlooked, as they are often decorative. A person
who has a casual small home can use these simple, natural things.

Indiscriminate picking of wild flowers is, of course, very anti-
social. Children should be taught that the flowers near the road-
side must be left for the passersby to enjoy, and that those on the
state conservation lists, including rare plants like the arbutus,
heather, and trilliums, must never be picked. Wherever wild
flowers are gathered some should be left for seed.

Gardens. In a garden, flowers should be available for cutting
all through the season. Gardeners say that a dozen varieties, well
chosen, will provide interesting combinations until late autumn,
and also will furnish material for dried winter arrangements.
Flower spikes, round target blossoms, and small flowers are needed.
Those that remain in good condition after cutting should be fea-
tured. Unusual leaves or seed pods are also desirable.

In a cutting garden those flowers which fit into the colors and
theme of the interior of the house should be grown. Mediter-
ranean houses require tomato red, orange, and yellow flowers;
English houses need beet-red, purple, and blue; late Colonial and
French houses need light colors and white. Modern houses wel-
come dramatic color contrasts that suit the colors of the interior.

Flower Shops, Florists' plant materials are often needed, al-
though garden flowers are preferable. When selecting florists'
flowers, buds as well as fully developed blossoms should be chosen
to relieve monotony. Unusual foliage can often be purchased in
place of the usual commonplace, smothering asparagus fern which
is provided; foliage from one's garden or from a house plant is
usually best. Asters, daisies, zinnias, and birds of paradise are
among the florists' hardier products; certain others last only a brief
time or have weak stems. The purchase of three flowers weekly
gives more pleasure than a dozen each month. Florists' flower
arrangements should seldom be imitated in the home.