88 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



feet wide and from twelve to twenty feet long, without a single curve to 

 redeem their entire ugliness. These beds usually contain every sort and 

 condition of plant, from straggling rose bushes to low-growing annuals. 

 When such beds are made to border straight brick walks, they become 

 still more unsightly. One can imagine that a gracefully curved walk, 

 with well-kept, narrow borders of verbenas, pansies, or portulaccas might 

 be endured ; but straight walks should never have their ugliness made 

 more conspicuous by flowery borders. It is doubtful if even curved 

 walks are improved by being thus bordered. Such flower beds, however, 

 have these advantages, that they can be enjoyed at any hour without 

 damp feet, and that visitors can be welcomed with bright bloom and 

 sweet odors. Even a Heraclitus would forget his tears while inhaling the 

 balmy breath of mignonette and sweet alyssum, and would imbibe with 

 their fragrance more cheerful views of life. Walk borders should measure 

 less than half the width of the walk; for instance, if the walk is five feet 

 wide, the border should not measure more than two feet in width. Wide 

 borders give a clumsy appearance to the whole. It should be borne in 

 mind that only the lowest-growing, perpetual-blooming plants should be 

 placed in these borders. 



In selecting and setting out bedding plants, their habits of growth, 

 their color, and their blooming qualities should be considered. A bed 

 planted with flowers of different heights, promiscuously intermingled, will 

 have a ragged appearance. In a bed of scarlet geraniums, plant the tallest- 

 growing varieties in the centre, graduating their heights to the margin of 

 the bed ; and so with all other plants of different habits of growth, when 

 planted together. A bed of scarlet fish geraniums, properly arranged, 

 has a very fine efTect ; but if red foliage plants are placed in the 

 same bed, much of the effect is spoiled, the two reds acting unfavorably 

 on each other. If balm geraniums are planted with the scarlet, they 

 likewise spoil the effect, giving too much foliage for the amount of bloom. 



It is much the fashion at present to mass flowers. When this system 

 is followed, care should be taken to preserve the individuality of the flowers 

 as much as possible. A glare or patch of color is better suited to public 

 grounds, where it maybe viewed from a distance, than for a home garden. 

 In the case of scarlet geraniums, they can be massed with impunity, as 

 nature has furnished each cluster of flowers with such a rich setting of 

 leaves that it remains a geranium and not so many inches of color. In 

 the pansy, drummond phlox, and portulacca, the foliage is not so marked 

 a feature ; hence their individuality is lost when massed in a single shade. 

 It is truly a pathetic sight to see a bed of the folksy little pansy all of one 

 tint. It makes one think of a whole asylum full of orphans in uniform. 

 I once saw such a bed ; it was the variety called " King of the blacks." 

 Poor little kings ! I hope never to see such a monotonous expression on 

 flowers again ; they looked dreadfully tired of each other; there was not 

 enough variety among them to make life spicy. A more pleasing effect 

 is obtained by mixing the colors and shades of a certain kind of plant, 

 either with or without regularity, than if it is attempted to secure a single 

 shade in a bed. 



