The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-08
Ol Flowers Is
 Knack

c ONE persons seem Q possess q - knack of arranging flowers ef-
 Actively. No doubt the first re- quisite is a good color sense, bbt there must also be the ''knack," just as some people have a talent for making room look cozy.
 One person can take positively ugly flowers and arrange them so they ap- pear charming and another can take beautiful ones and Go absolutely the reverse.
 But none of us need ever make flow CTS look ugly. We may not achieve a beautiful effect, but if we rent mber two simple rules we cannot go far wrong. First, never crowd flowers in- to a vase; too few are much better than too many. Second, never fix them so that they are stiff and straight.
 Even in the fancy arrangements made by florists, where the little hold CTS in the center are used, you will notice that in some manner they al- ways contrive to soften the stiff effect in the center. There is nothing uglier than a vase full of flowers standing up stiffly. It is impossible to get good effect unless you arrange each flower separately. Many persons will just take up a bunch and put them in a vase, and the result is never good.
 A sense of color is just as important in arranging flowers as in decorating room or in dressing. Consider first of all the colors of the flowers you ex- pect to mix and, next the color of the room in which you expect to place them, and its furnishings. A flower which may be a beautiful color in it. self or in certain surroundings, can become hideous aS1 ruin the appear ance of room with which it does not harmonize. Also certain flowers seem appropriate in some houses and inap- propriate in others. For instance, in a country cottage very luxurious flow CTS such as gardenias, orchids and exotic lilies seem rather out of place, where the simple garden flowers seem to feel happy and at home. In de- ciding on which flowers to plant in ones garden, think one should always take the style and type of ones house into consideration.
 Another thing to remember is that flowers that are faded are worse than none at all. l know what tempta- tion it is to keep flowers after they
  always find it difficult to throw them away, but there is nothing much drearier than sick and faded flowers.
 Many people tell me of ways to keep flowers fresh. We all know that heat is bad for cut flowers-that is, having them too close to a radiator or fire yet curiously enough one way that is supposed to make flowers last is to put them in hot water at night. know from personal experielce that a good thing to do is to take them out of their vases at night and lay them flat in water, either cool or hot. Cut ting about half inch off the stem every day (this is particularly good for roses) will help lengthen their lives. A pinch of salt added to the water each day is also a good thing. I was told the other day of a very novel and-to me, at least-new method of reviving flowers, but again l cannot vouch for the truth of it. My in- formant said that one aspirin tablet added to the water each day is a tonic, which sounds little strange but might be worth trying.
 The type of vases one uses is i'm portant both for its appearance and for its effect on the life of the flower. Luckily, the ones that are the best for the flowers are broad, low vases, which are the prettiest. Tall and narrow vases make charming arrangement ex- tremely difficult and, besides they do not give the flowers enough space or water.