284 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



the plants and by having the beds large enough we relieve the 

 dwarfer flowers with taller plants behind. In a shrubbery, too. 

 groups of flowers are nearly always right, and we can follow our desire 

 in flowers without much thought of arranging for colour. But as 

 the roots of the shrubs rob the flowers ; the best way is to put 

 near and around shrubberies free-running plants that do not want 

 much cultivation, like Solomon's Seal and Woodruff, and other plants 

 that grow naturally in woods and copses, while with flowers like 

 Pansies, Carnations, Roses, that depend for their beauty on good soil, 

 the best way is to keep them in the open garden, away from hungry 

 tree-roots. 



By having large simple beds we relieve the flowers, and enjoy their 

 beauty of colour and the forms of the plants without " pattern " of 

 any kind. Instead of" dotting" the plants, it is better to group them 

 naturally, letting the groups run into each other, and varying them here 

 and there with taller plants. A flower garden of any size could be 

 planted in this way, without the geometry of the ordinary flower garden, 

 and the poor effect of the " botanical " " dotty " mixed border. As, 

 however, all may not be ready to follow this plan, the following notes 

 on colour, by a flower gardener who has given much thought to the 

 subject, will be useful : — 



" One of the most important points in the arrangement of a 

 garden is the placing of the flowers with regard to their colour-effect. 

 Too often a garden is an assemblage of plants placed together hap- 

 hazard, or if any intention be perceptible, as is commonly the case in 

 the bedding system, it is to obtain as great a number as possible of 

 the most violent contrasts ; and the result is a hard, garish vulgarity. 

 Then, in mixed borders, one usually sees lines or evenly distributed 

 spots of colour, wearying and annoying to the eye, and proving how 

 poor an effect can be got by the misuse of the best materials. Should 

 it not be remembered that in setting a garden we are painting a 

 picture, — a picture of hundreds of feet or yards instead of so many 

 inches, painted with living flowers and seen by open daylight — so that 

 to paint it rightly is a debt we owe to the beauty of the flowers and 

 to the light of the sun ; that the colours should be placed with 

 careful forethought and deliberation, as a painter employs them on 

 his picture, and not dropped down in lifeless dabs. 



" Harmony rather than Contrast. — Splendid harmonies 

 of rich and brilliant colour, and proper sequences of such har- 

 monies, should be the rule ; there should be large effects, each well 

 studied and well placed, varying in different portions of the garden 

 scheme. One very common fault is a want of simplicity of in- 

 tention ; another, an absence of any definite plan of colouring. Many 

 people have not given any attention to colour-harmony, or have 



