16 The Booh of Annuals 



garden space will probably be either wholly in a 

 sunny location or in a partly shaded one; the wholly 

 shaded plot offers difficulties that, with annuals, are 

 perhaps too great to surmount. This narrows our gov- 

 erning factors to three, then, and it will require con- 

 siderable study and readjustment to work out a plan 

 for the bed that will pass all tests. 



The requirements as to height have already been 

 touched upon. If the bed is to be viewed from both 

 sides, the taller plants will, of course, be put in the 

 center, graduating the others down to either edge. A 

 mechanical and too regular effect as to height need 

 not be feared, for it would be impossible to obtain, 

 even if we were to strive for it. 



The colors and times of bloom are more difficult 

 to arrange. All that we need to make sure of, how- 

 ever, is that there will be a fair balance of bloom in 

 the bed or throughout the garden during each month, 

 and that unpleasant combinations of color do not oc- 

 cur. The use of white flowers between reds and 

 blues, or between reds and yellows, or between two 

 shades of the same general color, may always be de- 

 pended upon to preserve the peace when there is any 

 question about harmony. There is likely to be more 

 need of the white between colors near together in 

 the spectrum than between colors that are nearly 

 complementary. A clump of clear blue is made more 

 beautiful by contrast with neighboring yellow than 

 if the two were separated. If you have a vista be- 

 tween the beds— along a straight walk, for example 



