104 FLOWER GARDENING 
sweet sultan and Lavatera rosea and several others. 
Where there is a choice of color, as in the case 
of the larkspur and phlox, make it the general 
rule to plant only one tone in a colony. If the 
latter is very large and two colors are desired, 
mass each; but divide the space unequally between 
them and make the line of division very irregular. 
One of the saddest mistakes made with annuals 
is to plant them in mixtures. Some flowers, pop- 
pies, for instance, never shock you grievously when 
all colors are thrown together; but zinnias, China 
asters and Drummund’s phlox, among others, do 
with a vengeance. While between these extremes 
are instances where a mixture may be suffered, no 
annual can be seen in perfection unless the va- 
rieties of the species are segregated. ‘Treated this 
way some of the shades of the zinnia and China 
aster that seem unbearable when in close contact 
with others take on genuine beauty. The sweet 
sultan, scabiosa, portulaca, nemesia, petunia and 
Drummond’s phlox likewise show a vast improve- 
ment when the colors are separated. 
Beware of “art”? and strange shades, unless the 
scheme is one that needs just such tones; they 
are beautiful when rightly applied, but not easy 
to apply. The large mauve blossoms of Martynia 
elegans are difficult picture material; so are the 
gold-veined blossoms of salpiglossis. And there 
are certain shades of scabiosa and sweet sultan 
that it were better to discard than to use without 
proper thought. 
