Special Features of the Garden 17 



For cut flowers the deepest shades usually give 

 the greatest pleasure. There is nearly always sur- 

 rounding color indoors and not the quantity of 

 green for a background which is afforded in the 

 open garden, and pale, delicate hues are likely 

 to lose their identity amid the strong contrasting 

 colors of indoor decoration. 



The style of vase for cut flowers will have an 

 important bearing upon their appearance, and the 

 beauty will be either enhanced or detracted from 

 according to whether the right vase or the wrong 

 one is used. Long-stemmed heavy flowers placed 

 in a delicate dainty vase will not show to advan- 

 tage, while short-stemmed blossoms stuck in the 

 top of a tall vase will certainly seem out of pro- 

 portion if not somewhat ridiculous. Vases should 

 never be gaudy in appearance, nor even profusely 

 decorated. If a vase is to be used as a piece of 

 statuary it may be of fanciful design, but the vase 

 used to display flowers should be simple in line 

 and decoration. Yellow daffodils in a plain yellow 

 pottery vase will be most beautiful, as will pink 

 roses in a pink rose-bowl, but not red roses in a 

 pink rose-bowl. And flowers should never be 

 crowded in the vase. Nature does not crowd her 

 flowers on a stem and the more natural the 

 arrangement, the more beautiful the flowers. 



