THE SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 413 



wettest Avinter Aveatlier, and consequently frost does not lift even the edges of 

 the walk, or break it anywhere. — W., in Country Gentlcvian. 



MATCIIIXG COLORS IN THE GARDEN. 



There are few persons with an eye so well trained tliat they can matcli or 

 arrange colors so well as to give a pleasing and highly artistic effect. This is 

 especially the case when the attempt is made in the flower garden, where the 

 various shades of leaf and blossom are brought out to their fullest extent. 

 While it would be difficult to give ex})licit directions for grouping and massing 

 plants to suit every locality, still the following brief rules and remarks on the 

 subject, from the London Garden, may be of some assistance to our readers : 



Many who can grow flower garden plants to perfection signally fail in making 

 a display in accordance with good taste. For this many reasons exist, notably 

 an unacquaintance with the laws relating to color, and sometimes a want of 

 acuteness in distinguisliing between the different colors. What are called 

 primary colors consist of red, yellow, and blue, and of these all others are simply 

 combinations. Thus yellow and red make orange, yellow and blue make green, 

 and blue and red make purple, and so on. Now, as the primary and secondary 

 colors sliould be arranged alternately, a secondary should always be opposed to 

 a primary. For instance green should be exactly opposite red, and purple 

 opposite yellow. Now, green is the complement of red, and purple is that of 

 yellow. This may be proved in another way. Take a sheet of clean white 

 paper and make a blotcli of red in the center of it the size of a penny. Gaze 

 steadily at the red blotch for a few seconds, and then suddenly shift your gaze 

 to a clean sheet with nothing on it, and a disc of green will appear. This is 

 why we call green the complement of red, and green and red always look well 

 in juxtaposition, whether in a flower garden or elsewhere. This is one reason 

 why the old Tom Thumb Pelargonium held favor so long. Its leaves were a 

 beautiful green, and one fault in many of our scarlet bedding plants is that 

 their leaves are not a beautiful green, but often spoiled by dark zones. 



I have little doubt that the rising popularity of bedding Violas, in one sense 

 at least, is owing to the fact that one class consists of purples and the other of 

 yellows — purjjle being just the complement of yellow. I have a narrow border 

 Avhich was planted last year with one row of Golden Gem Viola next the gravel, 

 and behind that one of The Tory, and this simple arrangement was admired by 

 every one who saw it. The colors were complementary and true to nature ; it 

 was, therefore, consistent that they should please. Blue and white, either 

 in lines or mixed, always look well. White, however, is not a color, and will 

 bear placing anywhere. The same may be said of black, though it cannot be 

 so appropriately planted anywhere. However, we have no real blacks either in 

 flowers or in foliage, Tiie nearest approach to black whicli I have seen is in 

 Pansy Bismarck, and that is not suited for bedding. The Perilla and Dell's 

 Beet are bronzes, and have to be complemented according to the shade whicli 

 they present. In the planting of single beds, people who understand the laws 

 relating to color often plant, say, three colors, a central mass, a belt round 

 that, and an edging. I have frequently seen the mistake committed of placing 

 a strong color in the center, the band a complementary color, and the edging 

 in harmony with the band. 



