132 LANDSCAPE GARDENINQ. 



this way, they are capable of some of the most brilliant 

 and satisfying effects which 2:)lants can ever giYe. In 

 the irregularity and informality of the border it makes 

 no difference if one plant or a whole lot of plants fails to 

 grow. The irregularity is not destroyed ! Or if some 

 celandines or dandelions crowd into a half occupied 

 nook somewhere, there is no harm done, for flowers are 

 what we want. It would be different if we wanted 

 flower beds. 



The first and easiest and greatest improvement to 

 be made in hundreds of front yards would be to obliter- 

 ate the flower beds entirely, — sod them over, and leave 

 an open greensward where they have stood in the middle 

 of the lawn, — and move the flowers into the side borders. 



It is hardly necessary to describe the principal 

 annuals nor to give directions for their cultivation ; but 

 the following partial list, with scattering notes, is 

 appended merely as a suggestion of the manifold riches 

 at command. 



Asters. — The annual or "China" asters have been 

 very much improved in recent years. The old-time 

 asters were too stiff and formal to gain much sympathy, 

 but the new sorts, particularly the branching and the 

 chrysanthemum flowering sections, are free and graceful 

 and very fine. The new Japanese asters are also infor- 

 mal and agreeable. The better strains of tlie German 

 quilled asters are extremely good, and quite different 

 from other varieties. Asters should always be started 

 in a hotbed and transplanted if possible. 



Alyssum. — A good old favorite. Works nicely into 

 the edges of the flower border. 



Ageratum. — Constant bloomer during summer, in 

 white and bright blue ; good in the edges of borders. 

 Six to eighteen inches high. 



Antirrhinum, Snapdragon. — Many fine colors, from 

 white nearly to black, in dwarf and standard varieties. 



