116 AUTUMNAL COLOR ON THE LAWN. 



character. People have a taste and regard for beauty of 

 foliage of every kind, but the trouble is their knowledge is 

 defective. 



Ill short, I would venture to assert that if the mass of 

 cultured men and women could realize that is, see directly 

 before their eyes, as it were a tithe of the lovely composi- 

 tions of color attainable by means of foliage on the lawn, 

 fashion would simply declare that an attractive home must 

 include such effects if it would be considered at all com- 

 plete. 



The direct proof of this assertion lies in the falsely 

 directed enthusiasm shown for the Persian rug wrought 

 into the lawn with bedding plants, echeverias, alternantheras, 

 and the like. True, the Persian rug is an admirable thing 

 in its way, an absolute work of art, but then it is not 

 always in harmony with the natural effects suitable to 

 a special surface of greensward. Yet people delight in 

 Persian-rug or carpet gardening from a simple and very 

 reasonable love of color. I contend, indeed, that carpet or 

 ribbon gardening, artistically composed, is both right and 

 proper in its way, only it should be subordinated to, as well 

 as co-ordinated with, other compositions of color throughout 

 the entire system of planting on any special lawn. 



With the object of inspiring a due regard for the charm- 

 ing possibilities of color composition in foliage not only 

 dining one season but during all seasons, I propose to con- 

 sider briefly the material that constitutes one of these effects, 

 and something of the methods by which it can be best 

 attained. If artists were all gardeners or gardeners all ar- 

 tists, these effects and their construction would be familiar 



