DECORATIVE PLANTING 207 



should carry the belt of verdure down to meet the lawn. A 

 general group of perennials may consist of several sorts inter- 

 mixed, and if care is taken to choose species that bloom at 

 different seasons, a succession of flowers may be had from the 

 same spot during the summer. In mixed plantings, where two 

 kinds of flowers are to bloom at once, or where adjacent plant- 

 ings come into bloom at the same time, one must avoid the 

 planting together of inharmonious colors, such as magenta and 

 scarlet, or purple and blue. White flowers may be used to 

 separate warring colors and also to serve as a foil for all 

 others. Both purple and blue flowers add a sense of distance 

 to the view, and, if planted in bays in the shrubbery, appear 

 to increase the size of the garden. Yellow and red flowers 

 have the opposite effect. By planting them on jutting points 

 they add to the apparent depth of the bays. 



Hedges. In some cases it is desirable to divide two plots of 

 ground, or to set off the home grounds from the street, by means 

 of a hedge. For repelling intruders or keeping stock within 

 bounds, the hedge is made of some thorny material, such as 

 Osage orange, honey locust, barberry, or buckthorn. About 

 dwellings it is more usual to plant privet, lilac, box, or some 

 of the evergreens like arbor vitse and hemlock. Hedge plants 

 are set thickly in straight lines and are trimmed into shape 

 annually during the summer season. The words " hedge " and 

 " edge " are obviously of similar derivation, and edgings are 

 naturally lines of small plants like small hedges set along the 

 borders of other plantings. Pansies, alyssum, lobelias, and 

 many other low-growing species are used for this purpose. 



Bulbs. All plants propagated by thickened underground 

 parts are called bulbs by the florist and general gardener, 

 and, for the purposes of planting, no other distinction need be 

 made. The chief value that attaches to bulbs is found in the 

 fact that the flowers are usually showy, and, being formed in 

 the preceding summer, are practically certain to appear when 



