Book of Gardens 



combination with the white, forms a beauti- 

 ful group. The lupin is a fair sized plant, 

 with perhaps a dozen stalks 2' to 3' tall. 



By the time the lupins begin to fade the 

 iris will come into flower. Onl}' the so-called 

 self-colored sorts seem sufficiently assertive to 

 be suitable for a planting of this nature. 



Mrs. H. Darwin is a most satisfactory white, 

 of rather dwarf habit. Madame Chereau is 

 the tall and stately variety with somewhat 

 elongated white flowers with blue laced edges. 

 Pallida Dalmatica is a large, luxuriantly grow- 

 ing kind, whose extra sized flowers at a little 

 distance give the effect of a clear, delicate 

 blue. Her Majesty, with flowers almost as 

 large but borne on shorter stems, is soft pink 

 with crimson markings. 



We have to be especially careful in placing 

 our irises unless we are willing to cut them 

 off before their time, because the oriental pop- 

 pies never wait for the iris season to be quite 

 over. These with their brilliant black and 

 scarlet coloring and great size are likely to 

 prove rather upsetting to one's preconceived 

 ideas of balance and hamiony, unless they are 

 carefully curbed. A good showing can be had 

 from Rose Queen, Perry's White, Nancy, Go- 

 liath, Royal Scarlet, Beauty of Livermore. 



By the first of June — in many localities, 

 somewhat earlier — the peony plants will have 

 altogether lost the mahogany color of their 

 earliest stage and will have developed into pic- 

 turesque mounds of deep, glossy green. Twelve 

 standard sorts of moderate price, which give 

 great variety in type and color of bloom and 

 will furnish the longest possible season — from 

 three to four weeks — are Umbellata Rosea, 

 Rubens, Festiva Maxima, Mons. Jules filie, 

 Courrone d'Or, Faust, Delicatissima, Marie 

 Jacquin, Felix Crousse, Mons. H}'ppol>'te 

 Dellille, Henri Murger, Marie Lemoine. 



By the third week of June, when the later 

 peonies are in flower, the delphiniums will 

 be reaching a considerable height, and the 

 long, graceful spires of buds will begin to 



While the late peonies show the last o) 



their glory, the delphiniums raise their 



heads ready to bloom 



show color. These with the Madonna lilies 

 and the early white phloxes always follow 

 hard on the peonies. The delphinium, or 

 perennial larkspur, ranges in color from white 

 through countless enchanting combinations of 

 blue and lavender to deep blue and purple. 

 The scarlet and so-called yellow sorts need 

 not be considered here. For a variety of de- 

 pendable blues, plant — Bleu Tendre, Rev. E. 

 Lascelles, Hermosa, The Alake, Porcelaine 

 Sceptre, Dusky Monarch, Mr. K. T. Caron, 

 Progression, Perfection, King of Delphiniums, 

 Lorenzo de Medici, Mrs. Brunton, Andrew 

 Carnegie, Francis F. Fox, Corry, Moerheimi. 



As the larkspur and lily time passes, the 

 gorgeous phlox era comes — ^the former per- 

 haps the most ethereal, the latter certainly the 

 most brilliant phase of the garden 3'ear. Visu- 

 alize these in bloom — Miss Lingard, Tapis 

 Blanc, Frau Anton Buchner, Comte von Hoch- 

 berg, Europa, Fernand Cortez, Inspector El- 

 pel, G. A. Strohlein. 



The beautiful, big, creamy white flowered 

 dwarf, Tapis Blanc, is without a rival for 

 the very front of the border. It grows from 

 r to 1^' tall and bears large heads of large 

 flowers. It blooms earlier than the other 

 phloxes in this later group, usually beginning 

 to flower just as the early white. Miss Lingard, 

 is by its best. Tapis Blanc forms a bridge 

 between the two seasons. Frau Anton Buch- 

 ner, universally acknowledged the very best 

 white phlox, bears equally large flowers in 

 larger but somewhat looser heads, and grows 

 very tall, often over 3'. This white is used 

 for its own sake and to separate the more 

 brilhant sorts. These brilhant colors are 

 most effective used in considerable quantities, 

 each by itself. Of the colored varieties, one 

 might start with six plants each of the fol- 

 lowing : 



Cortez — a rich crimson, early; G. A. Stroh- 



lein — a wonderful salmon with a red eye; 

 Europa — white with a clear red eye; Comte 

 Von Hochberg — a deep crimson, one of the 

 darkest colored sorts; Inspector Elpel — a rosy 

 pink with a reddish eye, very late. 



The phloxes, with their wealth of color and 

 bloom, carry us well into September, when the 

 various fall asters begin to flower. 



The number of these Michaelmas daisies 

 is a revelation to most people, who still sup- 

 pose the lavenders of our own New England 

 asters the only colors to be found among them. 

 There are, however, not only these lavenders 

 and many more, but pinks in almost pure 

 tones, white, light and deep blue, crimson, 

 and purple. Many of the newer varieties 

 grow to be larger plants and bear larger flowers 

 than those most of us know. For a good 

 autumn showing, try St. Eg\vin, Beaute par- 

 faite, Glorv of Colwall, Ryecroft Purple, R}'e- 

 croft Pink,' Fairfield, Mrs. S. T. Wright, Wm. 

 Marshall, Bertha Cubitt, Mrs. Rayner, Hilda 

 Morris, Feltham Blue. 



In building a new border, start out with 

 these rules firmly in mind : 



L Select a location, if possible, in full view 

 from the summer living room. 



2. Carefully measure the space to be planted, 

 and make, to a convenient scale, a detailed 

 plan showing the location of every plant to 

 be set. This not only makes the actual plant- 

 ing much easier, but makes it possible to get 

 along without the unsightly and perishable 

 labels, for if in doubt as to a name one merely 

 has to consult the plan. 



3. In arranging the colors try to get beauti- 

 ful combinations, remembering always that 

 simplicity is a chief aid to that end. A half- 

 dozen plants each of three or four colors are 

 far better than the same number of plants, 

 each in a different color. 



4. Whenever practicable, obtain the best 

 quality of plants, in named varieties. 



5. Give a reasonable amount of labor and 

 fertilizer in preparing the ground. 



