THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 91 



coloiirs of the flower masses by partly obliterating the effect of the green 

 turf upon them ; so that the turf appears as turf, or in other words as a 

 distinct element, not as a component of the colouring. For instance, blue 

 never has a good eifect when in juxtaposition with green, because the 

 green has in it a good deal of blue, hence a gray edging separates the 

 green from the blue, and brings out the respective distinctness of both. 

 So again yellow never looks well in juxtaposition with green, because the 

 gTeen is itself half made up of yellow, hence if we could have it, black 

 would be the proper edging to masses of yellow upon a green ground, 

 151ack and saffron are combinations of which the textile artist knows the 

 value well, but we have no black flowers, and if we had, possibly their 

 green foliage would weaken their distinctness for such a purpose, con- 

 sequently yellow is the most difficult of all colours to manage, and is as 

 likely to give a vulgar tone as otherwise, especially if combined with red 

 in the same arrangement. Planters of gardens may derive considerable 

 information as to the ultimate eftects of certain conceptions by first making 

 a sketch of the ground on paper, and then filling in the several tones with 

 water colours ; however roughly the drawing may be made, if the colours 

 are pretty true to those the plants are intended to ^jroduce, errors in the 

 plan will be readilj^ detected, and mistakes may be avoided before it is 

 too late to remedy them. But when in walking over an extent of ground 

 we come successively upon masses that are not all visible at one view, an 

 important law of vision must be borne in mind. After the eye has re- 

 ceived an impression, that impression remains upon it for some time ; there- 

 fore, if we have dazzled it by an excess of light — as for instance, by those 

 most glittering of all mixtures, white alyssum and Flower of the Day, or 

 Countess of Warwick and Cineraria maritima, or variegated mint and Lord 

 Raglan or Defiance verbena — it will be glad of the relief at the next turn 

 of a mass of perilla or purple orach or blue verbena, which give repose, 

 and restore it from the effects of the glare it has just been submitted to. 



Mere mixtures of colours are seldom satisfactory in geometric planting. 

 Verbenas are too often wasted by the heterogeneous assemblage of twenty 

 or thirty colours, where one would be sufiicient and preferable. If mix- 

 tures are adopted it should be according to a definite plan, and not by 

 fortuity, and in such a ^YaJ that each will help the other ; as, for instance, 

 purple orach Avith variegated geranium, plant for plant, or in groups each 

 of three, gives a symmetrical dotting of gray, scarlet, and crimson bronze ; 

 variegated alj^ssum with Annie geranium, one of the best of the varie- 

 gated-leaved scarlets, adds to the whiteness of the white, and brings out 

 the scarlet effectively. It is in these mixtures that the florists have in- 

 variably violated the principles of art, as in a bed of tulips on the orthodox 

 plan of a bybloemen, a bizarre, and a rose, the interest depends on the merits 

 of individual flowers, not on the effect of the mass, view it which way you 

 will. Then, again, we have to consider the forms as well as the colours of 

 foliage, and, still more important, the style of the flowers, whether perpen- 

 dicular or horizontal in their greatest breadth of colour. A bed of scarlet 

 geraniums is as good an example as any that can be given of horizontal 

 leaves and flowers, and it is therefore best seen from above, as when on 

 the level of the ground where leaves and flowers present their greatest 

 breadth at once to the eye. In the same position fuchsias are much less 

 effective, because their greatest extent of surface is perpendicular. There- 

 fore we need to see them on a level with the eye, when their pendant 



