NOTBUBEB 3, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



11 



tavorite; the others are arranged about 

 the room in which she is receiving. 

 Knowledge as to whether the young 

 lady is a blonde or a brunette and as to 

 her surroundings — her gown will al- 

 ways be white on this occasion — is a 

 oreat assistance in producing a telling 

 Effect. Pliil. 



COLOB EFFECTS IN BEDDING. 



[A paper by George S. Baltbis, of Des Moines, 

 1,1., read at the eighth annual meeting of tile 

 Society of Iowa Florists, In Des Moines.] 



This subject is one which appears 

 to have been overlooked by a large 

 number of florists, as much of their 

 work has proven to me of late. Their 

 work tends to show, however, how 

 much thought and study have been 

 given to the characteristics in the 

 growth of the plants, though not in 

 the blending of colors. 



In summer bedding there are several 

 things which must be considered, with- 

 out regard to the colors, to insure suc- 

 cess. We must know about the height 

 each variety of plants will attain, in 

 order to insure symmetry in the ap- 

 pearance of the bed. Attention should 

 also be paid to the nature of the leaves, 

 especially in carpet bedding. It is an 

 easy matter so to mix alternantheras 

 and coleus as to spoil an excellent de- 

 sign. It is almost impossible to ar- 

 range alternantheras on the inside of 

 a coleus bed and make it look well. 

 In the so-called carpet bed it is seldom 

 that flowering plants can be used with 

 any degree of satisfaction. Not long 

 ago I noticed a good design spoiled 

 because sweet alyssum was used, and 

 the gardener, in his endeavor to keep 

 it as low as the alternantheras, had 

 necessarily pinched ofE the tops which 

 would have flowered, and the space was 

 green where it was intended to be 

 white. 



Harmony and Contrast. 



As the color of a plant often changes 

 to a certain extent after it is moved 

 from the greenhouse to the garden, 

 we should have a complete knowledge 

 not only of what the color is, but what 

 it will be. 



If there are several beds to be planted 

 in a certain space, we not only ought 

 to «hoose colors which harmonize with- 

 in a single bed, but also between the 

 beds as a whole. For instance, a bed 

 of red geraniums bordered with 

 Madame Salleroi geraniums looks much 

 better near a bed of yellow cannas than 

 near red ones. If the red cannas were 

 used the individual beds would be 

 satisfactory, but there would not be 

 enough contrast between the beds. One 

 of the best flower beds I ever saw was 

 planted as follows, naming from the 

 center out: First, Robusta cannas; 

 second, Florence Vaughan cannas; 

 third, Mrs. Page salvias; fourth, Gold- 

 en Bedder coleus; fifth, Alternanthera 

 brilliantissima. In every instance the 

 contrast was good and the colors were 

 bright and harmonized perfectly. An 

 example of a smaller bed might be 

 as follows: A center of King Humbert 

 cannas, then two or three rows of 

 Buttercup cannas, bordered with any 

 good red alternantheras. 



Some Poor Combinations. 



Having mentioned a few instances 

 of good color combinations, I will now 

 describe some which I have seen and 

 consider quite undesirable. In one of 



The Debutante. 



the parks of this city I noticed a good 

 bed planted with King Humbert can- 

 nas in the center, with salvias next and 

 the coleus, John Pfister, as a border. 

 How much better would it have looked, 

 however, had there been some bright 

 color, such as yellow or white, to sep- 

 arate the different shades of red! I 

 have also seen beds similar to the 

 foregoing, except that they were in- 

 tended to be all yellow, but, owing to 

 the different shades of yellow, it would 

 have looked much better had there 

 been some darker color to separate 

 them. 



One of the most unsatisfactory 

 pieces of planting in regard to the 

 blending of colors is to be seen in a 

 prominent place in this city. There 

 we can find red and pink geraniums 

 with some blue ageratums. A worse 

 combination would certainly be impos- 

 sible to find. How much better would 

 a simple bed of red geraniums bor- 

 dered with sweet alyssum, or a bed of 

 white geraniums bordered with blue 

 ageratum, have looked! 



Planting the Backgroimd. 



In planting a flower garden or even 

 in planting a few beds on a large 

 lawn, there are several points to be 

 considered in planting either the back- 

 ground or foreground. If, when plant- 

 ing the background, you wish to give 

 the grounds a larger appearance, plant 

 such colors as blue, orange, deep rod 



and the like; while, if the background 

 is to appear closer, any bright color, 

 such as scarlet, white and yellow, will 

 have the desired effect. I first noticed 

 this in my experience in planting at 

 Union park. The predominating colors 

 in the back half of the garden included 

 such as pink, salmon, orange and the 

 like. But after planting a couple of 

 beds of Golden Bedder coleus it seemed 

 to bring the entire background closer. 



Some of you will perhaps disagree 

 with me in my plea for a sharp con- 

 trast in adjoining colors. But if you 

 will notice in particular a bed planted 

 all red or all yellow and the like, or 

 two adjoining beds of the same color, 

 and then look at one where the colors 

 are contrasted or at the beds as a 

 whole, I have no doubt but that you 

 will quite agree. 



PEOPAGATINO DOUBLE ALYSSUM. 



Where can I obtain seeds of double 

 giant alyssum? I have seen the plants 

 catalogued, but not the seeds. The 

 single varieties are not desirable. 



M. E. H. 



The double varieties of alyssum do 

 not produce seeds and must be pjopa- 

 gated by cuttings. 0. 



Lexington, 111.— Alderman .XmbWieU 

 (Meeting a greenhouse. • • "" 



