PERENNIALS 231 



pergola. Other flowers with long spikes are foxgloves, monkshoods, 

 chimney bell-flowers (a great favourite in England), eremurus, 

 Ferbascum phlomoides, and the bugbane or cimicifuga. On a 

 smaller scale are snapdragons, lupines, and veronicas. Holly- 

 hocks make strong vertical lines with their stems and so do peren- 

 nial sunflowers, the plume poppy, the madonna lily, and the giant 

 reed or arundo.. 



Dome-like bushes often look well against public build- 

 ings crowned by domes. And if your house is characterized 

 by horizontal lines, you may repeat those lines in flowers 

 that have broad flat clusters, e. g., sweet williams, achilleas, 

 Sedum spectabile, and some varieties of phlox. Doubtless 

 it could be better done with shrubs, especially viburnums. 

 But I hope no one will let such ideas run away with him. 

 The vertical lines are worth considering, but I would always 

 have something that combines vertical lines with the power 

 to soften architectural hardness, e. g., the fluffy plumes of 

 Stenanthium robustum, or the arching leaves of bamboos or 

 reeds. 



There is an architectural quality in the panicles of Rod- 

 gersia shown on plate 80, and the leaves might almost be called 

 "monumental," for they are bronzy green, about a foot across and 

 parted into five broad divisions. I think Mr. Fremlin has done 

 well to bring perennials and grass right up to his doorstep, for he 

 lives among the flowers in a garden like that of Mr. W. C. Egan 

 at Highland Park, 111. Ordinarily, however, a house needs some 

 formal planting to make a transition between architecture and 

 nature. And, while some of my readers may be captivated by the 

 fine effect of this Rodgersia, they should remember that herbs die 

 down in winter. The most appropriate plants for the immediate 



