Gardening for Amateurs 



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Hollyhocks among Snapdragons and Pentstemons. 



Id-World Flowers for Modern Gardens 



THERE are so many beautiful hardy 

 flowers suitable for massing in the 

 flower garden that delightful and 

 varied effects can be created by their 

 use. Many hardy perennials contribute 

 largely to the attractiveness of a garden, 

 whether they are planted in the ordinary 

 herbaceous borders, in beds in the flower 

 garden, or in irregular masses in the 

 less formal parts. Probably no form of 

 planting is so fascinating or so simple as 

 this, and at the same time so productive of 

 brilliant effects. Plants of this description 

 are very little trouble, for, being quite hardy, 

 they soon become established, and never 

 fail to produce an annual display of blossom. 

 It is, of course, essential to prepare the 

 ground well in the first instance by deep 

 digging and manuring, but subsequently ;ill 



the attention needed is to keep the plants 

 free from weeds, to remove superfluous 

 shoots in early summer, and, if this should 

 prove necessary, to restrict encroaching 

 growths of neighbouring shrubs or plants. 

 Positions on rising ground are ideal for 

 groups of hardy flowers, as their beauty is 

 then more readily displayed. When the 

 plants can be so arranged that the visitor 

 comes upon them unexpectedly they are ren- 

 dered additionally attractive. As a rule, each 

 group should l>e of one or two kinds only ; 

 an intermingling of many sorts does not en- 

 hance the general effect. If it is decided to 

 have two or more kinds in a mass, due re- 

 gard must be paid to colour, and the plants 

 arranged to form a pleasing contrast, plac- 

 ing the darker coloured forms towards the 

 back. It will In- found, however, that masses 



