B ORDERS OF HARDY FLO WERS. 79 



There is nothing whatever used in bedding out to be compared 

 in colour, form, or fragrance with many famihes of hardy plants. 

 There is no beauty among bedding plants at all comparable with that 

 of Irises, Lilies, Delphiniums, Evening Primroses, Paeonies, Carnations, 

 Narcissi, and a host of others. Are we to put aside or into the back- 

 ground all this glorious beauty for the sake of a few things that merely 

 give us flat colour? No one who knows even to a slight extent what 

 the plants of the northern and temperate world are can admit that 

 this sort of gardening should have the first place. There is nothing 

 among " carpet" plants equal to Windflowers in many kinds, flowering 

 in spring, summer, and autumn ; Torch Lilies, superb in autumn : 

 Columbines ; Harebells ; Delphiniums ; Day Lilies ; Everlasting Peas ; 

 Evening Primroses ; Paeonies ; Phloxes ; Ranunculus, double and single, 

 and the many fine species ; all the noble autumn-blooming. Daisy- 

 like flowers ; Scabious ; plumy Spiraeas ; Globe Flowers ; Lilies, in 

 noble variety ; Polyanthus ; Primroses ; Auriculas ; Wallflowers 

 Meadow Saffrons ; Crocuses, of the spring and autumn ; Scillas 

 Gladioli ; Snowflakes ; Grape Hyacinths ; Narcissi, in lovely variety 

 Tulips, the old florists' kinds, and many wild species ; Yuccas ; Carna- 

 tions and Pinks ; Dielytras ; Cornflowers ; Foxgloves ; Stocks ; Star- 

 worts ; great Scarlet and other Poppies ; Christmas Roses, both of the 

 winter and spring ; Forget-me-nots ; Pansies and many of the rock 

 plants of the mountains of Europe — from the Alps to the hills of 

 Greece, cushioned with Aubrietia, and skyblue Wind-flowers — all hardy 

 as the Docks by the frozen brooks. 



Flower Borders Fringing Shrubberies. — A frequent way 

 in which people attempt to cultivate hardy flowers is in what is 

 called the " mixed border," often made on the edge of a shrubbery, 

 the roots of which leave little food or even light for the flowers. 

 The face of a shrubbery should be broken and varied ; the shrubs 

 should not form a hard line, but here and there they should come 

 full to the edge and finish it. The variety of positions and places 

 afforded by the front of a shrubbery so arranged is tempting, but 

 it is generally best to use plants which do not depend for their 

 beauty on high culture — which, in fact, fight their way near shrubs 

 — and there are a great many of them, such as the evergreen Candy- 

 tufts, the large-leaved Rockfoils, Acanthus, Day Lilies, Solomon's 

 Seal, Starworts, Leopard's Banes, Moon Daisies, and hardy native 

 Ferns. 



A scattered, dotty mixed border along the face of a shrubbery 

 gives a poor effect, but a good one may be secured by grouping 

 the plants in the open spaces between the shrubs, making a careful 

 selection of plants, each occupying a bold space. Nothing can be 

 more delightful than a border made thus ; but it requires knowledge 



