August 14, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



321 



GARDEN AND FOREST. 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO. 



Office: Tribune Building, New York. 



Conducted by Professor C. S. Sargent. 



SNTEKED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT THE POST-OFFICE AT NEW VORK, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 1895. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editorial Article :— Color in the Garden 321 



Notes from a Bot:inic Garden.— II Professor IV\ J. Bt-<ii. 322 



Foreign Corresponde.nce : — London Letter /F. ll'atson, 322 



Entomological: — Another Herliariuin Pest (Ephestia interpunctella). (With 



figure.) ..J. G. Jack. 323 



New or Little-k.nown Plants :— Opuntia fulgida. (With figure.) 



Professor f. 11'', Toiuney. 324 



Plant Notes 326 



Cultural Department:— Summer-flowering Plants IV N. Craig. 326 



Notes on Crinums J. M. Gerard, 327 



Two Good Kniphofias hl.tx LeichtUn, 327 



Hardy Perennial Plants 5. A, 327 



Cucumber, " Cool and Crisp." IV. R, S. 328 



Correspondence : — The Rose Garden on the Wooded Island, Jackson Park, 



Chicago Fantiy Copley Seaz'ey. 32S 



Luther Burbank's Hybrid Lilies Carl Puriiy, 328 



Iris hexagona Lora S, La Ma nee. 329 



R ECENT Publications 329 



Notes 330 



Illustrations : — Ephestia interpunctella. Fig. 45 324 



Opuntia fulgida in Arizona, Fig. 46 325 



Color in the Garden. 



THE scheme of color in beds and borders is a problem 

 which is seldom grappled with successfully. A com- 

 bination of trees is sometimes as painful to the color-sense, 

 owing to conflicting tones, as the jarring of scarlet Gera- 

 niums and purple Coleus. Refinement of perception in this 

 direction is the final test of the true artistic gift in planting. 



Even in small gardens it is possible to give a keynote of 

 color by which to, tone the whole, so that discordant hues 

 may be e.xcluded ; but to control the effect one must be 

 ever on guard lest Nature thrust in that shade of purple- 

 pink which she evidently intended for a landscape in which 

 green predominates, as in country roadsides and the edges 

 of woods. Florists' colors do not always come true, and 

 one is frequently dismayed at the development of this ob- 

 jectionable tint in flowers described as scarlet, so that one 

 who weeds relentlessly may find unsightly gaps even in 

 a well-planned border of gay perennials or annuals. Only 

 an expert gardener can make complicated pattern-beds 

 endurable, but it is not so difficult to make the simpler and 

 more natural forms of gardening interesting on a small 

 scale. Most beautiful effects are obtained with groups of 

 flowers against a background of shrubbery, where they 

 have the charm both of relief and of surprise. But it is 

 not possible to combine with the roots of hungry shrubs 

 those plants which require rich nurture to bring them to 

 perfection, so that there are many lovely things that must 

 be grown in open and sunny places, where they cannot be 

 robbed of their nutriment. Generous beds, where they can 

 be grouped in masses, are appropriate for these, and the 

 plants should be so arranged that the different hues will 

 melt into each other, rather than clash in harsh contrasts. 

 Above all, what painters call a spotty effect should be 

 avoided, and each color allowed enough space to make a 

 definite impression on the eye before combining with the 

 succeeding one. Nor should the lines of junction be 

 sharply defined, but insensibly connect one with another, 

 with here and there some touch of vivid contrast by way 

 of emphasis. 



It is said that all colors can be combined if the sense of 

 true proportion be the guide, and that in this perception of 



proportion lies the true secret of the Ijeauty of the oriental 

 rugs. It is the same with a garden, where certain colors 

 can more safely predominate than others, notably shades 

 of red and yellow, with their infinite variations from deep 

 velvety crimson to soft pink, and their rich blendings of 

 hues of brown and gold and orange, as in the Nasturtium 

 and Marigold and Chrysanthemum, from almost black to 

 palest buff. Blue, which is always a painter's puzzle, must 

 be cautiously employed in the garden, and always with 

 careful reference to its relations with contrasting flowers. 

 It should be used sparingly, and requires white and pale 

 yellow in its neighborhood or a mass of surrounding 

 foliage. The Iris, rising amid its lance-like leaves ; the 

 Forget-me-not, starring the lush meadow grass ; the Suc- 

 cory, straggling in the dusty roadside herbage ; the Hare- 

 bell, nodding amid rock Ferns, are Nature's hints for the 

 proper setting of this difficult color IMasses of tall shaded 

 Larkspurs growing against a white veranda-rail, or a mass 

 of Ascension Lilies, show well, and their tall spikes are 

 very effective in the angle of steps going down from porch 

 or terrace into a garden. 



Purples and lilacs can be e.xquisitely mingled, as in the 

 varied shades of Irises, and they combine well with pale 

 foliage, and with white, but should be kept away from reds 

 and pinks. Delicate yellow relieves them agreeably, and 

 they are very charming in some cool damp nook, where 

 they seem to be in harmony with the quiet scene. 



In Robinson's English Flower Garden it is wisely recom- 

 mended to have flowers of cool and delicate tints in shady 

 borders ; typical plants for which use are the tall Larkspur, 

 Monkshood and Columbines, the Alpine and Japanese 

 Anemones, Hepaticas, White Lilies, Trilliums, Primroses 

 (white and yellow). Daffodils and Lily-of-the-valley. Be- 

 hind these flowers of the dale the author would place 

 "sombre masses of dusky shadow rather than positive 

 green color" In sunny places he recommends warm 

 colors, which are harmonized by the yellow sunlight, and 

 suggests the grouping of Marigolds, Chrysanthemums and 

 Nasturtiums, all shades of yellow, orange and brown — a 

 combination which could readily be tried in the simplest 

 garden. 



It is often said that the reason for the prevalent planting 

 of Coleus and Geraniums is their comparative cheapness, 

 but a wealth of Marigolds and Nasturtiums can be pro- 

 cured for the cost of a few Geraniums, and a far wider 

 range of color, both in depth and brilliancy, can be attained by 

 their aid, to make gay a cottage garden or the terrace of a 

 castle. Certain perennials of great splendor, such as the Ori- 

 ental Poppy, the scarlet Phlo.x, the Sweet William, the Bee 

 Balm, will give a succession of trumpet notes in a border for 

 many months, and betvi'een the strong-growing roots can 

 be set red Gladioli to blossom in August, and Shirley Pop- 

 pies, which come early into brilliant and varied bloom in 

 proper key with them ; while the tones of Salvias and scarlet 

 and crimson China Asters can be the final notes of a symphony 

 which will last from May till October. Numerous are the 

 lovely blossoms of the same tone which can be interspersed 

 with these to vary the effect and shade into the ])roperly 

 ensuing rosy hues worn by so many fragrant and long- 

 cherished flowers, Roses and Pinks, Balsams and Oxalis, 

 Verbenas and Sweet Sultans, Foxgloves and Dahlias, Pe- 

 rennial Peas, pink Larkspurs and Canterbury Bells, and hun- 

 dreds of others, with rose-colored Asters for the late season. 

 These should be followed by a touch of white and cream 

 color, leading to the pale yellows, which, though deeper 

 and richer tones, xonduct the eyes agreeably to the Iris 

 and Ageratum, the lilac Phloxes and Campanulas, the 

 Asters, which prolong the season and deepen into the 

 richest purple. On the other side of the reds can be a 

 transition, through pink and white and palest yellow, as the 

 Evening Primrose, to the tender a/.ure of the Myosotisand 

 the more brilliant blue of early Scilla and Hyacinth to Lina- 

 ria and Bluebells, ending with the intense indigo of Del- 

 phinium and .\conite. Low-growing plants, like Pansies 

 and Portulaccas, in tones which harmonize with the state- 



