OUR COUNTRY LIFE 



winter and arranged in a Japanese wall basket against 

 the brown wood of the chimney piece, really make a 

 striking effect. 



I have said that the most beautiful blue flower in 

 the world is the Chinese larkspur, but the bright blue 

 salvia (patens) sometimes causes me to hesitate. 

 There is a curious evanescent quality in the stem and 

 leaves which throws into still stronger relief the splen- 

 did, velvet-blue of the bloom. In a corner of the gar- 

 den made gay with yellow coneflowers, this plot of 

 brilliant azure looks at a distance like a tiny pool. 



Of all the coneflowers, the triloba is the most satis- 

 factory. How inadequate are words to describe its 

 color! Its petals are small but so vividly yellow shad- 

 ing to orange that the effect is dazzling in the sun- 

 light. Doing well in half shade, when cut it brings 

 the sunshine to the darkest corner of a room. Unlike 

 many of the rudbeckias, it has the agreeable habit 

 of keeping crisp and fresh for days in the house; and 

 its blossoming period lasts from July to the first week 

 of October. At first we planted it just outside the 



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