LITTLE GARDENS 



and are of physiological interest no less. But 

 what the eye does as by mechanism is not of ne- 

 cessity a guide to that which we shall do with our 

 hands. Complementaries when crudely juxta- 

 posed, yellow with purple, and orange with blue, 

 are apt to get to quarreling with one another 

 when our backs are turned. Veiled and softened 

 by air and shadow, nature's primaries, whether 

 used with opposites or not, seldom clash disturb- 

 ingly, but close at hand, in our home plot, it is 

 better to harmonize than to contrast. The cooler 

 and quieter colors fit themselves more easily 

 to a miscellaneous company than do the gayer 

 ones; indeed, we can make one rule suffice: to 

 keep cool and warm colors apart, each in the 

 society of its like. The scarlet of geraniums is 

 acid, but it is less endurable when supported by 

 a sharp, high green of the same " value," than 

 when offset by a darker green. Put a glaring 

 scarlet geranium alongside a bright blue flower 

 of any sort, and there is liable to be a riot. Scar- 

 let geraniums are rather intractable things, yet 

 apparently the most popular of pot-plants. They 

 are effective in borders and masses, but those of 

 a rich China red, and of pink and white, are more 



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