62 



BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 



HERBACEOUS BORDERS 



A, path ; B, B, borders ; C, C, boundary 

 of borders. 



garden will permit, are well cultivated, and are furnished with good, 

 carefully selected plants, even the warmest supporters of the old 

 regime will admit that they are superior, both in beauty and interest, 

 to formal beds. They are attractive for the greater part of the year, 



they give varied and ever-changing 

 effects, and they yield large quantities 

 of beautiful flowers for rooms. 



The coloured plates that accompany 

 the present notes show many beautiful 

 examples of herbaceous borders ; but 

 before considering the plants which 

 compose them individually, it may be 

 well to offer a few general hints about 

 the arrangement and cultivation of 

 hardy flowers. 



In the first place, it is wise to 

 make borders as wide as possible. 



Some of the finest of herbaceous plants, such as Paeonies and Del- 

 phiniums, attain to considerable dimensions when planted in fertile 

 soil, and crowding is apt to take place 

 in a narrow border. But that is not 

 the only trouble. When the different 

 kinds are bunched, none shows to ad- 

 vantage. Their individual beauties are 

 lost. Six feet should be the minimum 

 width of a border ; twelve feet will be 

 much better. 



Secondly, the ground for a herba- 

 ceous border should be prepared as 

 thoroughly as a kitchen gardener would prepare it for prize 

 Onions ; that is to say, it should be dug to double the depth of 

 a large-sized spade, and have a liberal dressing of manure incor- 

 porated. It should be dug in autumn or winter if possible, so 



PREPARING GROUND FOR BORDERS 



A, soil well broken up ; B, soil generously 

 manured ; C, loosened sub-soil. 



