104 FLOWER GARDENING 



sweet sultan and Lavatera rosea and several others. 

 Where there is a choice of color, as in the case 

 of the larkspur and phlox, make it the general 

 rule to plant only one tone in a colony. If the 

 latter is very large and two colors are desired, 

 mass each; but divide the space unequally between 

 them and make the line of division very irregular. 



One of the saddest mistakes made with annuals 

 is to plant them in mixtures. Some flowers, pop- 

 pies, for instance, never shock you grievously when 

 all colors are thrown together; but zinnias, China 

 asters and Drummund's phlox, among others, do 

 with a vengeance. While between these extremes 

 are instances where a mixture may be suffered, no 

 annual can be seen in perfection unless the va- 

 rieties of the species are segregated. Treated this 

 way some of the shades of the zinnia and China 

 aster that seem unbearable when in close contact 

 with others take on genuine beauty. The sweet 

 sultan, scabiosa, portulaca, nemesia, petunia and 

 Drummond's phlox likewise show a vast improve- 

 ment when the colors are separated. 



Beware of "art" and strange shades, unless the 

 scheme is one that needs just such tones; they 

 are beautiful when rightly applied, but not easy 

 to apply. The large mauve blossoms of Martynia 

 elegans are difficult picture material; so are the 

 gold-veined blossoms of salpiglossis. And there 

 are certain shades of scabiosa and sweet sultan 

 that it were better to discard than to use without 

 proper thought. 



