22 Subtropical Gardening. 



at any time put their heads too high for the more 

 valuable things above them, they can be cut in for a 

 second bloom. In the case of using foliage-plants 

 that are eventually to cover the bed completely, 

 annuals may be sown, and they in many cases will 

 pass out of bloom and may be cleared away just 

 as the large leaves begin to cover the ground. 

 Where this is not the case, but the larger plants 

 are placed thin enough to always allow of the 

 lower ones being seen, two or even more kinds of 

 dwarf plants may be employed, so that the one 

 may succeed the other, and that there may be a 

 mingling of bloom. It may be thought that this 

 kind of mixture would interfere with what is called 

 the unity of effect that we attempt to attain in 

 our flower-gardens. This need not be so by any 

 means ; the system could be used effectively in the 

 most formal of gardens. 



One of the most useful and natural ways of 

 diversifying a garden, and one that we rarely or 

 never take advantage of, consists in placing really 

 distinct and handsome plants alone upon the grass, 

 to break the monotony of clump margins and of 

 everything else. To follow this plan is necessary 

 wherever great variety and the highest beauty are 

 desired in the ornamental garden. Plants may be 



