lo How to Make a Flower Garden 



selves — pinks because they are pinks, alyssum because it is alyssum, not 

 because they may form a part of some impossible harp or angel. 



This brings up a discussion of the proper place to put the annuals. Do 

 not put them in the lawn: you want grass there, and grass and annuals do 

 not thrive well together. Supposing that you grow the annuals for garden 

 effect, there are two ways of disposing them — to grow in beds or in borders. 

 Sometimes one method is better and sometimes the other. The border 

 method is the more informal, and therefore the simpler and easier, and its 

 pictorial effect is usually greater, but in some places there are no boundary 

 lines that can be used for borders. Then beds may be used ; but make the 

 beds so large and fill them so full that they will not appear to be mere play- 

 patches. Long beds are usually best.' Four or five feet wide is about the 

 limit of ease in working in them. The more elaborate the shape of the bed, 

 the more time you will consume in keeping the geometry straight and the 

 less on having fun with the plants. Long points that run off into the grass — 

 as the points of a star — are particularly worrisome, for the grass-roots lock 

 hands underneath and grab the food and moisture. A rectangular shape is 

 best if you are intent only on growing flowers. Of course, if your heart is 

 set on having a star on the lawn, you should have it; but you would better 

 fill it with coloured gravel. 



It is surprising how many things one can grow in an old fence. The 

 four-o'clocks shown on page 17 illustrate this point. Most persons owning 

 this place would think that they had no room for flowers, yet there the 

 four-o'clocks are, and they take up no room. Not all annuals will thrive 

 under such conditions of partial neglect. The large-seeded, quick-germinating, 

 rapid-growing kinds will do best. Sunflower, sweet pea, morning-glory, 

 Japanese hop, zinnia, big mangold and amaranths are some of the kinds that 

 may be expected to hold their own. If the effort is made to grow plants in 

 such places, it is important to give them all the advantage possible early m the 

 season, so that they will get well ahead of grass and weeds. Spade up the 

 ground all you can. Add a little quick-acting fertiliser. It is best to start 

 the plants in pots or small boxes, so that they will be in advance of the weeds 

 when they are set out. 



First and last, I have grown practically every annual offered in the 

 American trade. It is surprising how few of the uncommon or little-known 

 sorts really have great merit for general purposes. There is nothing yet to 

 take the place of the oldtime groups, such as amaranths, zinnias, calendulas, 



