CHAPTER VIII. 

 COLOUR BORDERS. 



The Question of Colour : A tour round our neighbours' 

 gardens will almost certainly leave on us very mixed 

 impressions. Some gardens will have pleased us, others 

 the reverse. Faults of laying out and planning may be 

 there, but are not so striking. It is the colour which is all 

 important. Colour effects imprint themselves on our 

 minds, and where we find it hard to decide " what is the 

 matter with so-and-so's border," it is almost certain to be 

 the colour. Colour in the flower garden is everything. It 

 is absurd to imagine that any border can be sown or planted 

 to yield a beautiful effect without very careful thought on 

 the question of colour. Yet I come across people who 

 imagine they can do this. People have told me that when 

 planting a new perennial border or sowing a border with 

 annuals " they never worry themselves about the colours." 

 Some say that the idea of colours clashing is " popular 

 nonsense." 



I well remember one perennial border some 6-9 ft. wide, 

 and 40 ft. long, which I was invited to see when in full 

 bloom. It was indeed a sight, a heart-rending one. Almost 

 every colour clashed, there were no soft tones at all, all was 

 a mass of glaring, clashing colours. 



Experiment with Colour : Many people are not sensitive 

 to clashing colours, but then they should cultivate an eye 

 for colour. Really beautiful borders cannot be obtained 

 without an eye for colour ; if the colours clash, the first 

 and fundamental rule of colour gardening is violated. 



