CHAPTER IV 

 HARDY BORDERS 



WofuJ^shortcomings of most American examples A perfect sue- 

 """"cession of flowers and a perfect colour scheme The border 

 should become a national institution 



I THOUGHT I knew something about hardy borders before I 

 went to England, but I was as a babe unborn. What we 



Americans don't know about the art of making pictures with 

 perennial flowers would fill several large volumes. Our flowers 

 are usually mere dots amid wide areas of foliage. We allow 

 patches of bare earth to appear everywhere, even as late as July. 

 We tolerate shocking colour discords. We suffer stakes to show. 

 We put perennials in front of shrubs, where most of the finest 

 flowers are sure to be starved or overrun. We indulge in 

 a mighty housecleaning every spring digging, dividing, re- 

 arranging, and manuring to the ruin of all repose and beauty 

 in April and May. And if you, good reader, were called 

 upon to explain what colour scheme you used and what 

 pictorial effects you aimed at, could you give a satisfactory 

 answer? 



Years ago my imagination was fired by that sensational pas- 

 sage in Robinson's "English Flower Garden" in which Frank Miles, 

 the artist, laid down three startling propositions: Every square 

 yard of ground should have bloom on it at least eight months of the 

 year; every six inches of soil should contain its plant; and once a 

 border is well made, it need not be dug up at all! One of the 



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