COLOR HARMONY 



petunia have their will below, with perhaps the 

 flat panicles of large-flowered white verbena, a few 

 spikes of the gladiolus Baron Hulot, and some 

 trusses of a pinkish-lavender heliotrope judiciously 

 disposed, and lo ! the ugliness of the magenta phlox 

 has been transmuted into a positive beauty and 

 become an active agent toward the loveliness of 

 the whole picture. 



What a lucky thing for us delvers into plant 

 and seed lists if the color tests of railways — on a 

 more elaborate and delicate scale, to be sure — 

 could be applied to the eyes of the writers of color 

 descriptions for these publications! The only 

 available guide to the absolute color of flowers of 

 which I happen to know is the "Repertoire de 

 Couleurs," published by the Chrysanthemum 

 Society of France. Of this there is soon to be 

 published a pocket edition; and the American 

 Gladiolus Society has a somewhat similar proj- 

 ect under consideration. Here we have in the 

 French publication a criterion, a standard; and 

 if this were oftener consulted the gardening world 

 of this country would be working on a much 

 higher plane than is the case to-day. 



So much for the range of color in our flower 

 gardens, for the relative and absolute values of 

 7 



