For February. 1922 



53 



A Garden of Blue Annuals Edged With White 



FLORUM AMATOR 



BLUE, Ihc culur of the sky, and the symbolic hue of 

 hope, is especially deliglitful in a Summer garden, 

 giving-, as it does, a suggestion of grateful coolness 

 in contrast to the Summer's heat. .V garden of blue 

 flowers, edged with white, produces a charming elTect. 



We have no very tall-growing, annual blue-flowered 

 plants; therefore we will not be perplexed with arranging 

 our beds of plants so that the taller will not shade the 

 lower. However, our garden will be more attractive if 

 w^e arrange to have the taller plants in the northern beds 

 or borders of our garden. 



Let us, therefore, in one of the northern beds, plant the 

 rich dark-blue, and in an-other the exquisite azure-blue 

 annual Lupines. Their pea-shaped flowers are lovely, 

 and delightfully fragrant, and their foliage is beautiful. 

 They may be planted in the open garden in May and 

 thinned out when small to stand out ten inches apart each 

 way. Lupines grow quickly and their cut blooms are ex- 

 cellent for table use. We may plant as an edging for 

 these beds Agcratmn ("Little Dorrit"), the white variety, 

 sowing the seeds where the plants are to grow and thin- 

 ning them when young to stand about three inches apart. 



Within the last few years we are beginning to grow a 

 little more freely in our American gardens that beautiful 

 annual Salpiglossis ("Painted Tongue''). We should in- 

 deed have a bed of these of the orchid-flowered type of 

 purple-violet color, and another of the light blue with 

 veins of gold. The funnel-shaped flowers of Salpiglossis 

 face upward and are exquisitely marked with veins of 

 gold or silver. They produce a wealth of flowers, which 

 are highly esteemed for cutting, from early Summer till 

 frost. It is better, if convenient, to sow the seeds in fine 

 soil in shallow wooden boxes, and place these in a sunny 

 window of our dwelling house or in a conservatory or hot 

 bed, and after frost is past to transplant the young plants, 

 when of suitable size, into the garden bed about eight 

 inches apart each way, but the seeds may be sown in 

 May in a bed of finely prepared soil in the garden in very 

 shallow drills eight 'inches apart, and the plants, when 

 lliey are small may be thinned out so that those left will 

 stands about eight inches apart in the rows. There is an- 

 other and a better way of sowing all flower seeds directly 

 in the garden where they are to grow, namely, make drills 

 of such depth as the seeds require at a suitable distance 

 apart ; then make others crossing the first at right angles 

 and at such a distance apart as you would like the plants 

 to stand in the row. Plant two or three seeds at each 

 point of intersection of the drills and when the plants are 

 a few inches high, pull up at each intersection all the 

 plants except the strongest. Suppose we edge our beds 

 of Sulpiglossis with the prett>-, little white Lobelia com- 

 pacia. We may sow the seeds indoors and transplant, or 

 directly in the bed and thin out the plants to stand about 

 three inches apart. 



I think we would like beds of the two types of double 

 blue annual Larkspurs, one of the Stock-flowered type 

 of sky-blue color, and another of dark blue of this type, 

 one of the Emperor type in either black-blue or violet and 

 another in either light blue or azure blue. The Stock- 

 flowered type bears its blooms in columnar or pyramidal 

 spikes; the Emperor type has its inflorescence in cande- 

 labra form. Larkspur seeds should be sown directly in 

 the garden beds in ]\Iay, and, when large enough, thinned 

 to stand about six to eight inches apart. The plants will 

 begin to bloom in Julv," and continue to furnish an abun- 

 dance of beautiful flowers. v,-hich are excellent for cut- 



ting till frosts appear. Alyssiiin i^"Litle Gem") sown di- 

 rcctl)- in the garden bed and thinned out to stand alioiit 

 three inches apart will make a very pretty edging for 

 our Larkspur beds. 



There is a beautiful lavender-blue variety of Scabiosa 

 t Sweet Scabious) whose flowers are borne on long stems, 

 and are very suitable for cutting, and are produced con- 

 tniuously from July until frosts come. Scabiosa seeds 

 may be sown indoors in early Spring and the plants trans- 

 jilanted into the garden later, or in May sow directly iii 

 the garden beds. We will, I think, edge our Scabiosa bed 

 with Alyssum procumbens compactum, commonly called 

 "Carpet of Snow," sowing the seeds directly in the garden 

 bed and thinning out the plants to slaml a few inches 

 apart, when they are small. 



There is a new and greatly improved variety of that 

 unique plant, Nigella ("Love-in-a-Mist"), named "Miss 

 Jekyll." It grows about three feet high, and has lovely 

 flowers of cornflower-blue nestling amid its pretty, feath- 

 ery, green foliage, the position of the flowers as regards 

 the foliage giving the plant its common name. Nigella 

 is among the hardiest of annuals, and bay be sown directly 

 in the garden in the south in Autumn, and in the north in 

 Larly Spring, or later in May. It should be thinned like 

 otiier plants to stand a suitable distance apart. We never 

 obtain the best blooms either as regards size or quality 

 when t'.ie plants crowd each other. Nigella is especially 

 useful in combination with other flowers in making up 

 bouquets. We would like, I think, an edging of white 

 Lobelia coiupacta for our Nigella bed. 



Shall we not have a bed of that old time, floriferons, 

 fuzzy flower, blue Ageratum, planning the variety,"Swan- 

 ley Blue." because it grows tall enough for cutting, and 

 edge our Ageratum bed with fragrant white Sweet 

 Alyssum, that dear, old-fashioned variety which blooms 

 till November snows begin to fall? 



BymvaUia. commonlv called "Amethyst" from the color 

 of the flowers of some of its varieties, is too little grown. 

 I thi)ik you would like a bed of this of the variety 

 spcciosa 'major. The beautiful ultramarine blue of its 

 blooms, one of the rare colors in flowers, will certainly 

 delio-ht you. You will need a very dwarf plant for bor- 

 dering your Browallia bed, and you can again plant 

 Alyssum ("White Carpet")- 



Let us save the last bed in our flower garden for 

 Mvosofis ("Forget-me-not"'), using the variety seuipcr- 

 ilorens because it is a continuous bloomer, and also some 

 of the much admired, large-flowered, new variety, "Ruth 

 Fischer." Our Forget-me-not bed should have for a bor- 

 der a plant bearing' a verv s.nall flower of somewhat the 

 same form as th.at of the Forget-me-not, and I think we 

 would like for this purpose Alyssum ("Little Gem"). 



There are a few other flowers which we might grow in 

 our blue garden, such as Centaureas ("Cornflowers"), 

 purple saiidvtuft, purple Verbenas and blue Violas, but. 

 perhaps, what we have arranged for will be sufficient for 

 the first lesson. 



Of course you will follow the advice of Pliny, the Ro- 

 man, in making your blue garden, namely, "Dig deep, 

 manure well, work often.'' We have mentioned May as 

 the time for planting the seeds of annuals, but they may 

 aho be planted in lune, if the soil is kept moist while the 

 seeds are germinating, and the plants from June seed 

 sowing will bloom in middle or late Summer or in 

 .\iitumn. 



