THE WELL-CONSIDERED GARDEN 



sense is far oftener the attribute of women than 

 of men. Still, there is the art of painting to refute 

 this argument. 



Color as an aid 4 to garden design is a matter 

 ever present to my mind where a plan of high 

 beauty has been adopted and already carried 

 out. One occasionally sees a fine garden which, 

 due to the execrable color arrangement, must of 

 necessity be more interesting in winter than in 

 summer. Sir William Eden's plea for the flower- 

 less garden comes to mind: 



"I have come to the conclusion that it is flowers 

 that ruin a garden, at any rate many gardens: 

 flowers in a cottage garden, yes, hollyhocks 

 against a gray wall; orange lilies against a white 

 one; white lilies against a mass of green; aubrietia 

 and arabis and thrift to edge your walks. Del- 

 phiniums against a yew hedge, and lavender any- 

 where. But the delight in color, as people say, 

 in large gardens is the offensive thing: flowers 

 combined with shrubs and trees, the gardens of 

 the Riviera, for instance, Cannes, and the much- 

 praised, vulgar Monte Carlo beds of begonias, 

 cinerarias at the foot of a palm, the terrible crim- 

 son rambler trailing around its trunk. I have 

 never seen a garden of taste in France. Go to 

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