BOUQUET 



BOUSSINGAULTIA 



535 



615. A color rhythm. 



be produced by pruning the spray. Fig. 613 shows an 

 orderly variety in sizes in both leaves and flowers. The 

 parts are in pairs, a larger and a smaller composing each 

 . pair like march time in music. Fig. 



f~\ 614 shows an orderly variety in 



'',-. which each set is composed of a 



series of three, large, smaller, small- 

 est, something like a three-part 

 measure, waltz time, in music. Figs. 

 610 and 611 show rhythm of meas- 

 ure in the lengths of the sprays and 

 rhythm of line in their curves. In 

 each case there are three similar 

 curves, but three which form a series 

 from least bent to most bent. Fig. 

 608 presents a rhythm of measure 

 in the sizes of the flowers, another 

 in the sizes of the leaves, and 

 another in the lengths of the stems. 

 Fig. 615 shows a rhythm of color. 

 When flowers of one kind present a 

 wide range of tone, pinks, for 

 example, running from white to red 

 through various tones of pink, they 

 may be arranged agreeably by mak- 

 ing evident the rhythm of color from 

 lightest to darkest. When the flow- 

 ers vary in hue as nasturtiums do, 

 from yellow through orange to red, 

 a rhythm of hue may be estab- 

 lished in a similar way. Such sequences of color 

 (unless too formal) are always more pleasing than hap- 

 hazard spottings of color. All these arrangements show 

 rhythms of mass. Fig. 608, 610, and 611 show a triple 

 subdivision, large, smaller, smallest, but not so discon- 

 nected as to destroy the unity of the whole in any case. 

 Figs. 009, 615, and 616, show more complex rhythms of 

 mass, but in a general way they present a simple move- 

 ment from the diffuse to the compact. This the eye can 

 take in at a glance. Each review of this rhythm gives 

 additional pleasure to the sense of sight. A rhythm, an 

 orderly sequence of some kind, for the eye to follow, is 

 essential in floral arrangement. 



(c) Balance. A flower-arrangement must not be too 

 formal. It must present something of the freedom of 

 wild nature but it must appear to be in stable equilib- 

 rium. Every spot, every color, every stem line, every 

 space between these elements, presents an attraction for 

 the eye. All these attractions must be adjusted to one 

 another so that the whole appears to stand securely. 

 This means that the parts must be disposed with refer- 

 ence to the vertical center line of the vase. The principle 

 is that of the steelyard. A large, a brilliant, a solid mass, 

 near the center line, may be balanced by a small, a dull, 

 or a diffuse mass, farther removed from the center line. 

 To appear free, like nature, the attractions on one side 

 must not duplicate, in form, size 

 or position, the masses on the 

 other. Such an arrangement is 

 formal, and belongs in the realm 

 of structural and conventional 

 art; but, however varied the ele- 

 ments may be, they must be so 

 disposed as to counterbalance 

 each other, and maintain the bal- 

 ance of the whole. Compare the 

 illustrations with this principle in 

 mind. 



Lovers of natural beauty do 

 not overlook the possibilities of 

 winter bouquets. Sprays of seed 

 packs, withered leaves, and the 

 like often present soft dull colors 

 in such harmonious groups of 

 616. Complex rhythm tones that they may serve as 

 of mass. models for color schemes for cos- 



tumes and the interior decoration of rooms. They often 

 present exquisite rhythms of measure, subtle refine- 

 ments of line, charming combinations of erratic curves, 

 and surprising oppositions of harmoniously related 

 details, unrivaled in the growing period of the plant's 

 life. Plate XVIII shows at e apicturesque spray of white 

 oak with "oak apples." 



More than one kind of plant may be used in an 

 arrangement, provided the beauty of one enhances the 

 beauty of the other, like, day 

 and night, like a handsome 

 man and a beautiful woman 

 side by side. But even then 

 the two must have something 

 in common. The Japanese 

 often combine a round-leaved 

 plant with a linear-leaved plant. 

 While presenting a contrast in 

 form the two have green in com- 

 mon. Na- 

 ture often 

 combines 

 strong con- 

 trasts, as in 

 the dark 

 green holly , 

 with its 

 bright red 

 berries. 

 While the 

 colors are 

 complemen- 

 tary, the 



textures are alike. Both pre- I 

 sent smooth surfaces with glints 

 of light in common. Moreover 

 the red never vies with the 

 green in mass. It is a green 

 spray, with a few precious red 

 dots. 



In a word, in good flower- 

 arrangement either beauty of 

 color or beauty of form is the 

 dominant element. The whole 

 arrangement presents a unity 

 within which play rhythms of 

 measure, of line and of tone, all 

 related to a principal mass, the 

 supreme center of interest, and 

 all so disposed as to constitute 

 a balanced whole. 



HENRY TURNER BAILEY. 



BOUSSINGAULTIA (J. B. 



Boussingault, born in 1802, a 

 famous agricultural chemist). 

 liaxxelldcex. Strong herbaceous 

 perennial vines, grown in the 

 open and sometimes under 

 glass. 



Branching twiners: Ivs. alter- 

 nate, entire, thick: fls. small, 

 perfect, with 2 sepals, a 5- 

 parted, short-tubed perianth, 5 

 stamens, and 3<livided style or 

 3-jobed stigma, in long ter- 

 minal and axillary racemes. 

 Ten species in Trop. Amer. 

 Anredera is a related genus. 



baselloides, HBK. MADEIRA 

 VINE. MIGNONETTE VINE. Fig. 617. Perennial, root 

 tuberous: sts. smooth, reaching 10-20 ft. in a season, 

 and in late summer or fall bearing profusely of the 

 fragrant white fls. (which become nearly black with 

 age), and producing little tubercles by means of which 

 the plant is prop. Ecuador. B.M. 3620. A common 



617. Boussingaultia 



basselloides. (X.'a) 



