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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



do I remember Mr. Temple of Shade Hill Nurseries ask- 

 ing me about making pleasing pictures of annuals. You 

 can see there was a dearth of knowledge then as there is 

 today and it is right at this point that the gardener needs 

 assistance. 



Before we begin taking up the color schemes for an- 

 nuals, let us consider for a moment the garden design. 

 Although flowers and plants are the principal things in a 

 garden, yet they do not make a garden as a whole. To 

 secure a" pleasing garden the first requisite is to have a 

 pleasing design or plan. A garden may possess the finest 

 plants and an abundance of flowers, yet it is a failure if 

 the design or layout is poor. Some gardens, although 

 named so, are not gardens, but merely a lot of flower 

 beds. In other places the so-called garden is a border of 

 plants. Sometimes it is not the gardener's fault, but_ the 

 fault of the landscape gardener or architect who has given 

 him a poor layout and hence the reason for his failure. 

 Other gardens are failures because they have too many 

 flowers in them. One of the most beautiful things in a 

 garden is a carpet of green grass. If it is not beautiful, 

 why did Nature plant it so lavishly everywhere? The 

 most deliglitful and refreshing color in the world is green. 

 I like a garden that has plenty of grass to walk on. where 

 one is not afraid that he is trampling on flowers all the 

 time. To enjoy a garden one must feel at ease, and in 

 a hampered garden there is no comfort or repose. The 

 location and surroundings of a garden are important fac- 

 tors which have much to do with making a garden that 

 is attractive and satisfactory. The grouping of plants 

 and the color schemes may be most charming, but if the 

 other things that I have mentioned are not satisfactory, 

 then the garden as a whole is not a success. A garden 

 design ought to be as simple as possible and should not 

 exhibit any kind of scroll work. That is, the garden 

 should be as natural as possible even though it be an 

 architectural garden. One other thing that is distasteful, 

 and is very common in our American gardens, more 

 especially in our larger gardens, and that is, the gardens 

 are cluttered all over with large bay trees. They have 

 their uses but not in the garden. This is a subject that 

 could be extended and elaborated so that we could spend 

 a whole evening, but I have said enough to show my 

 viewpoint of a garden plan. 



Color Schemes With Annuals .\nd Biennials 



There are two ways of arranging plants in bloom. 

 The first is to arrange according to contrast. Examples 

 of contrast are black and white ; red and green ; orange 

 and blue: yellow and indigo; green and reddi.sh violet; 

 blue and orange: indigo and orange yellow. There are 

 intermediate shades but just as they approach the above 

 colors so must the rules of contrast he applied. In plant- 

 ing gardens nowadays there is not as much done with 

 contrasting colors as there was in the days of bedding 

 plants. Yet this can be said, that if there is a lot of green 

 foliage, it softens down the harsh colors and contrasts are 

 more pleasing. Most flower gardens are arranged ac- 

 cording to the law of harmony. Colors are said to har- 

 monize when different shades blend insensibly into each 

 other. 



It is not enough for a gardener to know the name of 

 the plants he is going to use. He ought also to know the 

 heights, habit and the color of the flowers and foliage. 

 He also should have good taste so as to arrange the vari- 

 ous plants that the flowers and habits of the plants will 

 group together to make a pleasing composition. Two 

 gardens mav contain the same number and kind of plants : 

 the one may be planted in such a way that everything is 

 jarring, displeasing and unrestful. while the other gar- 

 den mav be iilanlcd in such a way that it makes an im- 



pression of pleasing satisfaction. In forming plantations 

 of flowers, the right thing to do is to place the plants 

 so that they will form a part of a harmonious whole. 

 When planting groups, one ought to view them from 

 difl^erent parts of the garden so as to see that the ar- 

 rangement is excellent from all points. Another impor- 

 tant thing to bear in mind is not to plant too large masses 

 of annual plants because when they are through flower- 

 ing, they leave too large a gap which must be filled up 

 with some other plants. 



A garden to be successful should have continuous 

 bloom from May until the end of October. It is no easy 

 task to accomplish this, and requires a lot of planning and 

 scheming to keep a garden bright for this long period. 

 However, it can be done if a person has the equipment. 

 One of the things necessary is a good number of cold 

 frames where lots of annuals and biennials can be grown 

 in pots to be planted in the vacant spaces as they occur. 

 Another essential acquisition is a nursery or reserve gar- 

 den where annuals and biennials can be grown, and lifted 

 and used in the garden as required. When lifting plants 

 from the reserve garden, do it while the soil is dry. If 

 they are watered before they are lifted, they are more 

 liable to wilt. Water them at once when they are put in 

 their place in the garden and they will draw up the 

 water into their stems. 



One ought not to forget that certain annuals must be 

 sown two or three times during the Summer to keep up 

 the succession of bloom. Another most important point 

 to remember is that all seed pods and faded flowers 

 should be removed daily, indeed this is so important that 

 if it is neglected the continuous bloom will be a failure. 

 As an example, and to show how important this work is, 

 last Summer the Canterbury Bells we had in our garden 

 were gone over each morning and the seeds and old blos- 

 soms picked off. In doing this we obtained three crops 

 of flowers from our plants and had them in bloom up to 

 the beginning of August. Now there are certain plants 

 that it would be useless to waste the time on, for instance, 

 foxgloves, because there are no reserve flower buds to 

 develop the second lot of flowers. There, are other plants 

 that when the old flower stem is cut away throw up 

 another lot of flower stems. Though inferior to the first 

 flowering, however, they help to keep up the continuous 

 bloom. There are scores of other little details which 

 seem trifling but when attended to they help to make the 

 garden a success. 



Color Schemes in the Flower Garden 



Let us begin with the Spring garden and take a few 

 examples. The annual plants to be used in the Spring 

 ought to be raised from seed the previous August and 

 should be well-grown plants which ought to flower in 

 about two weeks after planting. Lovely combinations 

 can be made with tulips and annual plants. Spring flow- 

 ering annuals serve three purposes : first, they make a 

 pleasing combination ; second, they cover the ground in 

 the beds completely, and, third, they continue to flower 

 for some time after the bulbs are through blossoming. 

 In planting beds of bulbs, the planting of annuals should 

 not be done until the tulips or other bulbous plants have 

 pushed up their new growths about three ipches above 

 the ground, then one is not liable to disturb them. 

 Darwin tulip, Clara Butt, which is soft salmon pink, 

 makes a most pleasing effect with groundwork of white 

 English daisies. The Darwin tulip, Gretchen, makes a 

 very pleasing bed with the pink and white English 

 daisies. Darwin tulip, Pride of Haarlem, goes well with 

 a rather dark pansy. 



The cottage tulip. Picotee. which is white margined 

 with cerise makes a charming bed when Myosntis. Royal 



