THE HARDY BORDER 



almost dwarfs, in fact, — ^therefore well adapted 

 to places in the very front row, and close to the 

 path. The majority are of medium habit, fitting 

 into the middle rows most effectively. With a 

 little care in the selection of varieties — depend- 

 ing on the florists' catalogues to give us the 

 height of each — ^it is an easy matter to arrange 

 the various sorts in such a way as to form a bank 

 which will be an almost solid mass of flowers for 

 weeks. Some varieties have flowers of the purest 

 white, and the colors of others range through 

 many shades of pink, carmine, scarlet, and crim- 

 son, to lilac, mauve, and magenta. The three 

 colors last named must never be planted along- 

 side or near to the other colors, with the exception 

 of white, as there can be no harmony between 

 them. They make a color-discord so intense as 

 to be positively painful to the eye that has keen 

 color-sense. But combine them with the white 

 kinds and they are among the loveliest of the lot. 

 This Phlox ought always to be grouped, to be 

 most effective, and white varieties should be 

 used liberally to serve as a foil to the more bril- 

 liant colors and bring out their beauty most 

 strikingly. 



Peonies are superb flowers, and no border can 

 afford to be without them. The varieties are 



90 



