8 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Jlta- 15, 1909. 



9 



:^) 



DECORATING THE 



GREENSWARD 



^^ 



SUMMER BEDDING. 



[A (.ai.ti- by ICUuiii I..iiis.l.'ilc'. of Cirrird I'ol- 

 lege. riiilii(lcliihi:i, read Ijcfnrr tlio I'liikulclpliia 

 Florists' Chill. July o. lltui*. ] 



Wlu'ti your roMimittcc iiixitcil ymir 

 luiiiiliK' o'lvaiit liy IcttiT td write suiiic 

 thiiiji iiliDiit the Jatc^l in niitilipur llowcr 

 bed(iiii;:. I hoilatrd so Ion;: licfm-f reply- 

 ing lh:it I lie eliainii.'iii nl' the ciiiimiit tei'. 

 Robert Kill. |iai4 a iiersmial \isit, ami 

 his itletiijiii^ was so elVeclivc ami irre 

 sistibK thai all I i-an now say is. ''Jler(.' 

 I am. 



IjUwii ail(iriinieiit n|ieiis up a wide fiel<l, 

 altof^X't lier tmi wiije In lie ciiHsiderei I at all 

 satisfactdiily in the liriet' spaee that may 

 be allotted t(i its lunsidei-atiiiii this ('\c'n- 

 ing, s{i the best that can be dune with sd 

 impoit.'iiit a subject under existing condi- 

 tions is tu gi\e it a '■luueh and go'' 

 troatitient . 



The first thing tiiat naturally suggests 

 itscli wluMi CDUsidering the emliellish- 

 mont fd' a lawn is tu juotbu'c an iii\iting 

 and restful tdVeet. and the liest material 

 to make use of is slirubln'ry and shade 

 trees ;iudit.-iou>ly ]ilanted, and what is of 

 equal iiniKirtanee i- a seat here and 

 there; let these lie as intnrmal or as rus- 

 tic, yet as edinfortable for the ]iurpose 

 intended, as it is possible to have them. 

 Let slirubs. b(dh the deciduuus tlowering 

 and the ornamental evci'ereens, bi^ dis 

 pos(Ml as nearly with natui'al ell'ects as 

 possilde. M.any ot' the strong growing 

 gras.se^ add a :^raee to any plantation 

 that nothing else i-an gi\e. 



Do Jiot dot jplanis on a lawn unless they 

 are made to a]ipear to iia\e naturally es- 

 caped from ;i near by grruip. I once saw 

 a law II jilanted with <\tc\\ I'egularily that 

 in the dislam-e the bu-hes had the' ;i]i- 

 pearaiK-e oi' eock^ oi hay. 



Arrangement of the Shrubbery. 



T.et the shrubs oeeupy spaces on the 

 extreino outside oi' the Lawn, .avoiding 

 straight lines in the jdanting in all case.'^, 

 allowing suniii<'nt space between each 

 plant for the future development. J''or 

 the first few years after planting, what 

 may seem too mu(di room may be occupieil 

 with su<jh lloweiine annuals as umy sug 

 gest themselves to thos,. who have the 

 work in charge, vind the moii' lasting- 

 hardy perennials c(iiild to advanlage be 



intcrspel'sed bet WieU. 



Great care uui.-l be exeicised. ill the 

 association ot' tic- varicujoreii .annuals 



and the |ie|e|ini;il llowelilie plants. Ill 

 avoid cl.ashes III ciilorin;^. It is I'ai' easier 

 to av(ii(i ciilor clashi s in the trinier bi'd 

 ding (il.'inl lombin.alions ih.an il is with 

 the h.arily outdoor tlowi-riiio jilants:. al 



thollgl, too iiitell W r do s,.,. ))|(. scailet 



zonal (lela i^oii iniiis .and the magenta-jiink 



colored v.alielie- ol' llu' same in too close 



proxiiniiy with each other to be liar 

 monidiis. 



\'as<'s iudicioii-ly jijaced which me;ui< 

 never in the ceiiier nt' .a |dot or l.awn. and 

 where watei i- di i^asy .a<-c('ss so ,as tu 

 gi\e it Ml .abiind.aiice v\lieii ri'i|iiisite. 

 wliicli Is :;eiier.ally one- a day and fre- 

 qnenilv twi.-e aie ol'teii very elfectivcj 



esjieidally on the edge of a pond or lake, 

 but by all means refrain from planting 

 purple ]ietuinas in the s.amc vase with 

 scarlet geraniums or any other colors with 

 v\liicli they may ]iroduce discord. 



Some Differences of Opinion. 



Many (d' my hearers will remendier 

 that sli'ong paper read at a convention 

 In the early history (d' the SiKMety of 

 American Florists, hehl in IJnfl'alo. X. Y., 

 in wlii(di the essayist advocated the omis- 

 sion (d' all fh)\vering plants from lawns 

 anil |deasure grounds, and the use of 

 nothing but grass, trees and shrubbery, 

 and you will also rememlier what an up- 

 roar went up .all over the country in vig- 

 orous protest. 



Ami only last suniiner a lady visitoi' at 

 (iirard rollege, on entering the lodge 



Harry Turner. 



^ale. stodil. and in no uiimist.akable terms 

 exclaimed. •'What a pity to lait up the 

 liiwii and id.aiil theicdn I hos,. horrid oi'r.a 

 niuins!"' And so it ooes. h js impos 

 sible to ph'ase e\eryone. 



The cacliis lie, I which wi' have in (lira id 

 • ollei^e L^roiinds attr.ads more alteiition 

 than all the laotoii. ecraninm. or miscel 



l.aneolls lieils conibllied. 



The president dl' (iii.ard i'dlle;ie mdv a 

 shdi't time ;i^o s;ii,|. with iiiiicli apparent 

 erat i ticat ion. ih.ai the ''t'ront'' never 



looked better. While the tcjd |ile|itiflll 



use dt' tile seailet oeiaiiiiiiii (Zdiial pelar 

 uoniuiii ) m.ay not be cuiisiderecl in the 

 best dt' taste as \m' have it this year. 1 

 believe its \ery liiilliaiicy ill coloriiii;' in 

 till' past has attr.actecl many persons" at- 

 tention to the oardening. ami when ont'e 

 •a jiersoiiV interest has become aroused in 

 ga''dening. the rest is easy. The end has 

 jiistilied the iiie.aiis. |t |ias siTVed as a 

 leeai)'- td .an end. and h.as acted as a 



primer, as it wert\ or rather as the kin- 

 dergarten to aid floriculture. 



Appealing to Popular Taste. 



In a public garden, as well as in any 

 other, the geranium api)eals to the pop- 

 ular fancy, and for that purpose I believe 

 it will hold its own for a long time to 

 come. 



I'ersonally, I have no use for the jiink 

 varieties, for the most part, because they 

 do not harmonize with the brighter reds 

 or scarlets. At one time I did not like 

 the salmon tinted varieties of geranium, 

 but now 1 welcome them, because they 

 harmonize with the brighter reds and 

 scarlets. There is no color clash with 

 these brighter colors, provided the blue 

 cdinljinat ion is kept in due subjection. 



It should l>e understood in this connec- 

 tion that the landscape gardener has pre- 

 viou.sly completed his work, though one 

 suggestion 1 will venture to propose, and 

 that is that when space i)ermits I would 

 advise that a triangular tree phintation 

 lie made, not too far away from the resi- 

 dence, and that tlie trees used be the pin 

 oak, Quercus palustris, where these trees 

 render a good account of themselves or 

 when no better tree for a given locality 

 suggests ibself. JiOt these be ])lanted at 

 least sixteen feet apart, in triangular 

 form, and those of my hearers who con- 

 template such a planting will be surprised 

 to find how ^imeuable they will be to the 

 jirescribed landscape effects. And, what 

 is of equal importance, after the trees 

 have had a few years' growth, they may 

 be brought into requisition as hammock 

 supports. Three trees, properly disposed, 

 will support or rather furnisli sujiports 

 for three hammocks, wliiidi will undoubt- 

 edly furnish tinother jioint in the restful 

 effect so much desired in all lawn ailorn- 

 ments. 



The Girard College Grounds. 



'I'lie ]'laiifiiig (d' llovver and foliage beils 

 in lawn adornment is considered to be 

 worthy df our best thoughts. J-Jspecially 

 does this ."iiijily in public and semi-pidjlic 

 gardens cdiinected with cnir })()[)ular iu- 

 stitutiuiis. In the Girard (College grounds, 

 with which yours truly is connected, the 

 ide.a is to make as much disj)liiy with the 

 idaiils We hav(> on haml as is possible, 

 and we jiioceeil as follows: in the spring 

 we [ilant p.ansies, forgetiiie nots, Alyssum 

 siixtitile ;ind Arabis alpiiiii between and 

 associated with tuliiis, hyacinths, etc., 

 whi(di hail been jilanted iluring the l;ite 

 ()cl(dier ajid e.arly in the November pre- 

 vious. This combination for spring flow- 

 ering is \erv (dl'ective. 



Wallllowers ,'ire iilsu found to be good 

 for s]iriiig bedding when planted as above 

 indicated, between bulbs of last fall's 

 [il.aiil iiig, or for inde|>eiident iilanting in 

 spaces uiioccupieil. Wallllowers sown late 

 in .lime or early in .July, if ti'iinsplanfed 

 once or twice, will mtike (dfecfive ])lant- 

 iiig for s[iring work. For summer bloom- 

 ing there is nothing siijierior to gera- 

 niums, and when we desire foli.-ige plants 

 nothing is coiiipartible to ciolons. -The 

 siiiprise is, .jiidgiiig from how well these 

 showy leavi'il plants cover themselves with 

 olory in and around Philadelphia, that 

 inon; of them are not used elsewhere, 

 ('annas, as large flowering plants for dis- 

 tant effect, are most satisfactory. As 

 edging plants, nothing is superior to .\bu- 

 tilon Savitzi. which gives the "white 

 line'' nior(^ effectively tli.'in .any other 

 jilaiif that r know of. l'](dieveria and al- 

 teriiiintliei.a are iiiiich used where formal 

 desiens are desired. Init these are being 

 used less .and less as truly artistii; i«i- 

 stincts are ilev eloiieil. and the time is 



