Cornucopia Shapes Are New And Effective Flower Vases

Southland Times, Issue 23734, 4 February 1939, Page 15

Cornucopia Shapes Are New And Effective Flower Vases

At this season of the year, flowers can do much to provide an atmosphere, and to make substitute for the cheer of firelight. The posy bowls which are to be found in clear or in tinted glass with a broad flat rim, are charming ornaments too, for a dinner table when a tight little Victorian posy flower arrangement is used, with a rose for a centre. Cornucopia shapes are used for occasional tables, and in white or cream pottery they lend themselves to most unusual and attractive arrangements. Longstemmed, graceful flowers are necessary for these vases, and the best effects are , obtained with few blooms, for they fall more gracefully if they are not overcrowded.

Two or three spikes of delphinium with leaves is one suggestion; poppies

and graceful grasses is another. Cornucopia vases are rather tall for the dinner table, but they are lovely set against the background of a plain wall. Flowers last considerably longer if a little time is spent in arranging them. Rose stems are woody, so help them to take in water by peeling them for an inch or two from the bottom, then split them with a sharp knife. Delphiniums are less likely to fall if a teaspoonful of salt is put into the vase with the water, and poppies, which are difficult to keep alive once picked, last well if the stems are singed before they are put in vases. Aspirin has a good affect on drooping flowers. Allow one five grain tablet to a small vase, and two or three tablets to a big vase; fill up the vases with tepid water and cut the ends of the flower stalks before you put them in. This is a good tip for flowers with fleshy stalks which are inclined to droop.

It is important, too, to keep both glass and pottery vases clean. To remove green stains wash out with vinegar or ammonia, or put in two tablespoons of coal slack and a tablespoonful of water, shake thoroughly and rinse the vase with cold water.