194 STUDIES IN GARDENING 



rangements upon them. We have said that mono- 

 cotyledonous plants are apt to be more simple, fugi- 

 tive, and strange in their beauty than dicotyledonous 

 plants; and the gardener should attempt to contrast 

 simplicity with complexity, fugitiveness with per- 

 manence, and strangeness with familiarity. This he 

 may do in many different ways. He may, to take 

 one of the most obvious, plant his Tulips among 

 Pansies or Forget-me-nots, so that they will rise 

 through the contrasting carpet of less simple leaved 

 flowers, as Daffodils rise through the grass. A hun- 

 dred Tulips all of the same kind so planted will not 

 lose any of their beauty of form, since it will be em- 

 phasized by the contrasting beauty of the carpeting 

 plants; and it is only by means of an arrangement 

 of this kind that the true beauty of Hyacinths can be 

 seen. Many people condemn them as stiff; and, 

 indeed, when they are planted out in rows by them- 

 selves they are as stiff as a row of Lombardy Poplars. 

 But as the beauty of the Lombardy Poplar only shows 

 itself in contrast with trees of a more spreading growth, 

 so the beauty of the Hyacinth only shows itself in 

 the same kind of contrast. No one would think of 

 growing Bluebells in regiments, because we are all 

 familiar with the manner in which Nature grows 

 them. But the regimental system is even more fatal 

 to the beauty of the garden Hyacinth. 



This plan of carpeting bulbs with other plants of 

 a very different habit is now very general, but not so 

 universal as it should be. Many people who are de- 



