THE HERBACEOUS BORDER 191 



the trouble and expense of bedding out he can alternate 

 his Pinks with Violas or Tufted Pansies, which will, 

 if well treated, blossom for most of the summer and 

 can be cut back when they are spent and straggly. 

 Behind these low-growing plants he can arrange an- 

 other alternation of more or less permanent plants, 

 such as the dwarf Lavender, Santolina, the dwarf 

 Alyssum, Campanula carpatica, Pentstemons, Aquilegia 

 caerulea, and many others. Here, too, he may replace 

 spring with summer flowering plants; and here will 

 be the place for many bulbs, such as the dwarf er 

 early flowering Gladioli, the varieties of Lilium elegans, 

 the May Tulips, Camassia esculenta, English and 

 Spanish Irises, and Montbretias, which should be 

 planted near the more permanent shrubby plants 

 and will be an admirable contrast to them both in 

 growth and flower. Indeed, the secret of the right 

 use of bulbs in a border is to contrast them with plants 

 of a different and more permanent growth. They 

 should never be relied on for the main effect, as they 

 are usually insignificant when out of flower and do 

 not flower very long. So they should be planted in 

 clumps and not in lines, and their position should 

 be determined by that of the plants with which they 

 are intended to contrast. These are only notes upon 

 a large and difficult subject, but it is hoped that they 

 may illustrate some of the principles of border design. 



