THE FLOWER-BED 139 



weeds by the acre: two or three unhappy pinks 

 or geraniums are not enough to make an im- 

 pression. 



I suppose that everyone feels that the greatest 

 charm of any landscape in the north is the green- 

 sward. It is the canvas upon which every artist- 

 planter attempts to make a picture. But imagine 

 a painter putting a glowing bed of coleuses on 

 his canvas for a center-piece! The fact is, the 

 easiest way to spoil a good lawn is to put a flower- 

 bed in it; and the most effective way in which to 

 show off flowers to the least advantage is to plant 

 them in a bed in the greensward. Flowers need 

 a background. We do not hang our pictures on 

 fence -posts. If flowers are to be grown on a 



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131. A hole in the ground. In July, August and 

 September it was a carpet-bed. 



lawn, let them be of the hardy kind, which can be 

 naturalized in the sod and which grow freely in 

 the tall unmown grass. Lawns, upon their part, 



