154 FLOWER GARDENING 



keener edge on the pleasure to be derived from 

 "the adaptation of things in the natural world to 

 the uses of life" to quote one definition of art. 



Art, by the way, need not be taken so seriously 

 as to make the pursuit of it in the garden at once a 

 worry and a despair. If it seems too much of a bug- 

 bear think of it "as the application of skill to the 

 production of the beautiful by imitation or design," 

 and let it go at that. With good taste and imagi- 

 nation, perhaps with only common sense, you will 

 arrive at a sufficiently artistic goal. 



Garden pictures have the same beginning as 

 paintings on canvas composition, always with the 

 idea of adapting nature rather than merely imitat- 

 ing it. Form, which may not overlook so simple a 

 thing as a flower stem; foreground and background 

 are all prominent factors in this. Color, when 

 taken to mean the hue of blossoms, is non-es- 

 sential; it may be left out altogether. But color 

 does not signify that, despite loose usage of the 

 word; else would garden pictures be but patchwork 

 quilts. It is made up of foliage as well, and of 

 sky, rocks, buildings and everything entering into 

 foreground and background. 



Pictures, of course, may be set down anywhere: 

 again and again this is done with wholly satisfying 

 results. But what makes the pains really worth 

 while is to create these pictures precisely where they 

 ought to be which is determined by the natural, 

 or potential, advantages of a certain spot. 



To illustrate; there is no law against planting 



