58 HOW TO PLAN THE HOME GROUNDS 



large garden, so large that it would need to be isolated 

 and screened in some retired part of the place. There is 

 no reason why we should not get glimpses of a flower 

 garden from points of the landscape more or less distant, 

 but it should seldom be allowed to make a distinct and 

 marked feature of the landscape, with which it is not apt 

 to be in entire harmony. Hence, we should seek to 

 screen it somewhat by a stone wall, masses of shrubs 

 and trees, or some building. Its beauty is much more 

 satisfying if it is seen only when we come directly upon 

 it, and the charming details for w^hich it is specially val- 

 uable are at once evident. 



An ideal situation for a flower garden, especially one 

 that is made up largely of old-fashioned flowers, such as 

 phlox, hollyhocks, larkspurs, roses, sunflowers, and Black- 

 eyed Susans, is along the edge of a shrub border 

 or piece of woods, where the irregularity of the growth 

 of the flowers and their frequent unsightliness when out 

 of bloom, or fading early in autumn, renders always sat- 

 isfactory the immediate proximity of masses of green 

 foliage with which they can blend and in a degree lose 

 themselves. A herbaceous border of this kind lends 

 itself more kindly to this type of plants than any other 

 form, and, indeed, for a strictly herbaceous border, the 

 writer doubts whether any other form will be found en- 

 tirely satisfactory. 



Naturally, a flower garden need not limit itself to 

 herbaceous or perennial plants alone, nor to roses, or 

 any other plants that are apt to look unkempt and strag- 

 gling during the latter part of the summer or early 

 autumn. There are many annuals, such as nasturtiums, 

 asters, pinks, forget-me-nots, pansies, begonias, petu- 

 nias, zinnias, mignonette, heliotropes, poppies, phlox 



