STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 31 



There is no question but with a little thought in planting, these 

 beds ot simple annuals can be made as much objects of beauty and 

 means of decoration in the humblest 3'ard as the experienced gard- 

 ener makes of his beds on a grander scale on the extensive grounds 

 of his wealthy employer. And since there is no doubt of the edu- 

 cating, elevating influence of beauty in the simplest things, beauty 

 being allowed to be any revelation of nature's great law of harmo- 

 nies, it becomes an object to study the best effects. Many of the 

 green-house plants are more desirable for bedding than annuals 

 owing to their habit of constant bloom. Not infrequently they are 

 in full bloom when set and continue so through the entire season, 

 but necessarily they are expensive and only accessible to the few, 

 but by early planting many of the annuals are close rivals even in 

 this respect. By planting some of the varieties in boxes, or better 

 still in hot beds long before the frost is out, they will frequently have 

 attained a size that will enable them to commence blooming as soon 

 as their roots are fixed after transplanting, and many of these seed- 

 lings are quite as brilliant and effective when they once come into 

 flower as their tropical rivals. 



Having been for some years an enthusiastic cultivator of flowers 

 I have given considerable time and thought to effective planting and 

 will try and give some of the results of these experiments, to induce 

 others to try like experiments, with no doubt better results, for the 

 present multiplicity of varieties admit of infinite combinations. 



One finds there is a limited number of specimens that combine 

 well in the arrangement of any one bed or border ; better efl^ects are 

 assured usually by employing a variety of colors in the same class 

 of plants, only introducing another class when a dividing line is 

 desired, or for a border to the bed when wanted. 



The little beds often planted under the window and each side the 

 door-step may be a thing of beauty, instead of a conglomerate mass 

 of color, the coarse growing ones possibly crowding the delicate 

 ones out of sight. Plant the taller ones at the back of the bed, 

 and so graduate the height as to bring the lowest and often the 

 prettiest ones at the front, being careful to choose only colors 

 that harmonize. The border from the street to the front door, 

 if properly treated, may certainly be very effective by using 

 some small, flowering, low-growing plant on the inside line, like 

 the bush lobelia, either blue or white. If the blue be used care 

 should be taken in choice of color of the next line of plants. I 



