The tall glass sets off two or three long stemmed roses: and a few yellow daffodils or the narcissus with their leaves look equally well in it. Poppies for a day, in the same vase, have given pleasure to the beholder. At Easter it has joyously borne a stalk of two perfect lilies, and in the autumn tall spikes of salvia have been equally at home in it.
Our tall Japanese jar is suited to larger arrangements, for we need to remember that in tall or vertical compositions the vase should be about one third the height of the whole combination; so this is adapted to holding branches of apple blossoms or mountain laurel; or, if one is fortunate enough to find tall lilac bushes, about three branches from these are effective in it. Tall-growing golden-rod looks equally well placed here. It furnishes a modest setting for dahlias and chrysanthemums, and one of its most decorative compositions has been two or three branches of pine bearing their brown cones.
The possibilities of the smaller green jar are numerous, and only a few are given as suggestions. A loose arrangement of jonquils and their leaves, or of white narcissus, is effective. The shorter stemmed lilacs, either the purple ones or the white ones, may be placed in it. An arrangement of white field daisies, and one of yellow roses, have been found equally successful. One soon discovers the harmony and balance that exist between the flower and holder.
THE BACKGROUND
A tall vase with narcissus
Space and Harmonious Surroundings.—To obtain the largest decorative effect we must have not only artistic grouping and harmonious setting of flowers, but space and background, just as are needed for the hanging of pictures. Many a floral composition has lost all decorative effect from being placed in too small a space and surrounded by distracting objects. A few days ago I stepped into a room on an errand and forgot my errand in the pleasure I derived from seeing some beautiful yellow chrysanthemums, three or four, I think, in a yellowish brown jar on a large mahogany table, having for a background the upturned leaf of the table. It stood some little distance from anything else, a shaft of sunlight lay across the whole, and as I looked at it I thought: Here is all that constitutes a decorative arrangement of flowers. It was the feature of the room that held one's attention.
An arrangement for the tall Japanese jar