goldsmith] HOME GARDENS 25 



scabiosa, salpiglossis, poppies, and cosmos give a smaller range 

 of variation. (3) The amount of space at our disposal will dictate 

 the number and size of plants to be used. It is much better to 

 grow a few plants which have plenty of room and look comfortable 

 than to have a mass so crowded that we feel they are all choking 

 each other, and we dare not attempt to gather any except those 

 just around the border because we are sure that we shall break 

 so many in the process of cutting one. (4) Arrangement is another 

 factor of no small importance, for the prim rows and bordered 

 paths resembling the gardens of our grandmothers give us quite 

 a different feeling from the irregular masses and surprising flashes 

 of color that greet us from behind a curve or from half-concealed 

 situations in the shrubbery. It is of almost as much importance 

 as color and proportion in creating that indefinable thing which 

 we call atmosphere. Every garden possesses it and only by think- 

 ing of these various factors can one make the attractive, charming 

 and restful spot instead of the fussy, heterogeneous mass that is 

 dignified by the name of garden. 



For a garden to be of fullest value there must be (5) a succession 

 of bloom. So in our planning if we find that some plants stop 

 blooming by the beginning of real summer others must be grown 

 which will fill our mid-season days with flowers, and then will 

 come the late bloomers such as cosmos and salvia. This knowl- 

 edge of the exact season and duration of bloom will often help 

 our color scheme, for by the time one flower begins to show its 

 color its quarrelsome neighbor may be past its prime and clothed 

 only in foliage. Many, however, last from early summer till 

 Jack Frost nips them. (6) Abundance of bloom is also a most 

 desirable characteristic for the ordinary garden and fortunately 

 this is to be had in plants which are both easy of cultivation and 

 of no great cost. Calendulas, calliopsis, French marigolds, 

 cosmos, mourning bride, poppies, petunias, verbenas and ageratum 

 will supply us with quantities of color through almost any kind 

 of season. (7) The matter of expense need not deter even the 

 child who must makes his garden pay from having a few blossoms. 

 While fancy strains and new bulbs are often rather costly, many of 

 the most satisfactory plants are of the cheapest. The seed catalog, 

 one of the gardener's real friends, will help us to decide what we 

 can use and still keep within the limits of economy. 



