Annuals 235 



they are apt to look like so many patches of colour in a paint-box, 

 or so many bright daubs on the artist s palette, rather than a 

 picture complete in itself. Many gardeners, alas, mistake the 

 pigments for the painting, and lay on crude, plain colours with a 

 broad brush. However beautiful in themselves, a multitude of 

 them, unrelated, can actually spoil the garden composition as a 

 whole; and the same plants, thoughtfully arranged, can bring 

 perfect content in a garden. Annuals, even if short-lived and 

 cheap, should be chosen and placed with care. A garden is not 

 worth having unless it represents loving thought and affords 

 pleasure to the eye. One need not be deeply versed in art, or 

 be able to talk a lot of nonsense about it, to distinguish the difference 

 between discord and harmony of tint. Some people are gifted 

 with a subtle colour sense; some who are born without it may 

 acquire taste by patient striving; but until it is attained the most 

 satisfying garden effects may not be had. The first study in 

 flower gardening should be Colour not System, not Design, but 

 Colour,&quot; says the author of The Perfect Garden. &quot;System 

 and Design separate gardeners, Colour unites them. The study 

 of colour is equally the privilege of the owners of large and small 

 gardens. In it they meet on common ground. The same effects 

 can be secured in gardens of varied area. By grouping plants, 

 either on a large or small scale, in such a way that their hues blend, 

 we get beautiful effects, whether the plants be represented by half 

 dozens or by hundreds. Flower gardening for colour is almost a 

 new study in gardens, and it is fraught with great possibilities.&quot; 

 This quotation should be pasted in the crown of every gardener s 

 hat. Masses of flowers thoughtlessly planted a hodge-podge 

 of warring colours give scarcely more pleasure than a crazy 

 patchwork quilt. 



