94 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



should keep fresh for a period varying from a week to 

 fourteen days, according to the light and temperature of 

 the room in which they are placed. 



Many and varied are the receptacles in which these 

 large flowers may be used with effect. The old trumpet 

 vases that were so much in vogue a few years ago are 

 not so suitable as some others, unless they are placed in 

 the corner of a room where some article of furniture 

 hides the greater part of the long thin stem. Large, 

 and not too gaudy, china or earthenware vases are 

 probably as decorative and useful as anything for the 

 purpose. 



Although all the colours of one flower may usually 

 be mixed with impunity, it is better when designing a 

 decorative scheme to rely on two or at the most three 

 colours, though these two or three colours may include 

 many varieties that vary just a little in shade, and so provide 

 pleasing gradations which are better than severe colour 

 contrasts. 



In dark rooms all the shades of bronze, terra-cotta, 

 and even crimson are effective, if well lit up by the in- 

 clusion of some of the bright yellows and, needless to add, 

 in such a scheme the autumn foliage, such as Beech, Oak, 

 Liquidamber, and shrubby Spiraeas in variety, ought to 

 play a very prominent part. 



In lighter rooms where the panelling may be of pale 

 blue, pink, pale green, or crushed strawberry, great care 

 must be taken in the selection of the colours, but here, 

 generally speaking, the whites, creams, pale yellows, mauves, 

 pinks, lilacs, and other light shades may be utilised with 

 effect, employing green foliage, such as Asparagus 

 Sprengeri and A. tenuissimus, to mix with the flowers, 



