66 BOOK OF THE COTTAGE GARDEN 



lake. Mauve and lilac combine well with the whites 

 and pale yellows, and, of course, are happily situated 

 near the brighter greens. 



Beds, as distinct from borders, offer facilities for fine 

 masses of single colour. Spendid effects may be secured 

 either in reds, blues, or yellows, and there is no occasion 

 to consider the laws of relation, harmony, or contrast. 

 Surrounded by a broad margin of turf, such beds, even 

 though small, give a look of dignified simplicity, and are 

 far more satisfying than the speckled and kaleidoscopic 

 arrangements which the "bedding out" system pro- 

 vides. I remember a particularly good example of one- 

 colour bedding, the result of using flowers in shades of 

 red. The bed, which was enclosed by a narrow stone 

 kerb, faced the entrance to a rambling cottage residence 

 in one of the northern counties. Lychnis Chalcedonica, 

 Lobelia Cardinalis, and deep red Sweet Williams were 

 used, and in bright sunshine the whole bed was a mass 

 of glowing colour. The vermilion of the Lychnis found 

 an admirable foil in the intense velvety crimson of the 

 Sweet Williams, the deep bronze foliage of the latter 

 completing as fine a garden picture as could be wished. 



It is easy to think out other good colour schemes, 

 either of harmony or contrast. Scattered colonies of 

 golden Daffodils planted among beds of dwarf Tea 

 Roses, whose copper shoots provide a rich setting for 

 the flowers ; a Wallflower border — the colours ranging 

 from palest buff to deepest mahogany, and the fragrance 

 exquisite ; a Madonna robe, woven in shades of blue 

 — Myosotis, Spring Scillas, Muscari, and the lustrous 

 sheen of Gentians. All true garden lovers have, at any 

 rate, a latent perception for colour, and the gift is 

 readily developed by sympathetic observation. It is only 

 by carrying the results of such observation into practice, 

 that our gardens will prove entirely satisfying to refined 

 and cultured minds. 



