White 
Cosmos Cosmos 
Fale Blue 
Annual * 
Calendula Larkspur 
Plurials 
Buff Phlox Drummond 
wee 
Algssum 
Fale Pink 
andytuft 
White & Violet 
Helichrysum 
Nigella 
Miss JeryH 
‘Cornflower 
Cream Yellow Califortua Poppy 
Pale Pink 
Cosmos 
Flesh: Pink 
Zinnia 
LarkspurZ} e 9 
aes ON 
\ Sweet Alyssum\Elesh Pink. Phlox Drummond 
Just a Border of Annuals 
LAWSON MELISH, onio 
SIMPLE WAY OF GETTING COLOR EFFECTS IN A LIMITED SPACE—A SCHEME THAT CAN BE ADAPTED TO 
ANY 
LTHOUGH annuals, when used 
alone, are supposed to be the 
medium of the amateurs’ first at- 
tempt at gardening, they should 
never be thought of slightingly. Many 
charming combinations occur to me at 
the very mention of these magic things, 
which are pianted, grow to some height, 
and flower, all in the space of a few 
short months. 
The colors in this border (which is 
fifty feet long and eight feet wide) are 
blue, lavender, pink, and palest yellow; 
with plenty of the peacemaker, white. 
Strong yellows, orange, and red, are not 
used because they are, proverbially, 
troublemakers. 
To prepare the ground, have the 
whole space spaded over—about the 
depth of the spade will be enough, 
although the more deeply and thor- 
oughly the ground is worked, the bet- 
ter will be the results. If you have a 
nice loamy soil, the addition of bone 
meal will answer, but if it should be 
heavy clay, lighten with a liberal 
amount of sand and well rotted manure. 
Have the surface gone over carefully 
with a steel rake, and all lumps broken, 
until it is as fine as fine can be. 
Sow the seeds in longish “drifts” as 
indicated on the plan. I always scatter 
the seeds, thinly, and have at hand a 
bucket or two of finely pulverized earth, 
to scatter by handfuls over the seeds 
until they are properly covered; then 
firm the soil with a board, or lacking a 
suitable one I sometimes “spank” the 
seeds in with the flat back of a spade. 
Most failures with annuals are due 
to either too deep planting (the ones in 
this plan need only 
to be covered) or 
to careless or too 
infrequent water- 
ing during their 
infancy. The 
ground should 
never be allowed 
to bake into a solid 
cake, but watering 
must be most care- 
fully attended to, 
so the seeds will 
not be washed out 
of the ground. 
Late afternoon is 
the time all “know- 
ing ones” water, so 
the little plants 
may drink long and 
deeply all night 
before the morn- 
ing sunshine steals 
away the moisture. 
Here is an effective use of annuals. 
There are such attractive watering cans 
to be had, of English make, with very 
tiny holes in the spray end, especially 
made for watering newly planted seeds 
and seedlings. 
Every flower on this plan can be 
planted out-of-doors just as soon as the 
frost is well out of the ground. Of 
course the Cornflowers and Annual Lark- 
spur may be planted in the autumn for 
earlier blooms in the spring. But we 
can’t both eat and have the cake. If 
they start early, they likewise get quite 
shabby by the end of July; so, if I feel 
that I must have the earlier bloom, I 
plant in May and again in June, Gladioli 
among the Cornflower and Larkspur 
seedlings, to keep up appearances. 
The pale yellow California Poppy is 
very lovely; it should be the palest 
primrose one, not the deep orange that 
we commonly see. Nigella Miss Jekyll, 
is that heavenly pale blue Maid-in-the- 
mist; and the Calendula pluvialis is not 
the orange or yellow Pot Marigold, but 
a lovely single white, with a lavender 
tinge to the under side of the rays. 
Helichrysum is the Straw-flower of our 
grandmother’s gardens, which can be 
cut before frost, hung upside down for 
a few days, and then arranged in the 
house for winter decoration. The bloom 
is like a double cup-shaped Daisy and 
comes in nice pale shades; grows some 
four or five feet high, and is in my 
humble estimation. thoroughly alluring, 
both in the garden and in the house. 
Use the Early-flowering Cosmos. Thin 
the plants to stand a foot apart; pinch 
back twice, for nice bushy plants, and 
stake carefully, and inconspicuously, be- 
The garden is near the sea, and shelter is provided by a hedge. 
the ground is fertilized 
74 
SCALE BY PROPORTIONATE REDUCTIONS 
fore any support is really needed, so 
that the plants may not be injured by 
the first storm after they have attained 
their majority. Buy only the “flesh 
pink” Zinnia seeds, not any described as 
just “pink,” which would surely prove 
to be magenta. I personally prefer the 
single Zinnia, but it is a particular fail- 
ing of mine to fancy the single form of 
any flower. 
Cornflowers are so pretty when 
planted in nice masses, especially the 
lovely pale pink, and white ones. It is 
almost impossible to sow the seeds 
thinly enough, so they must be thinned 
out to stand about six inches apart. 
Cut the flowers with long stems, includ- 
ing some of the foliage and buds. These, 
or as a matter of fact any annual will 
stop flowering if allowed to go to seed. 
When the Cornflowers get pretty tall, I 
cut them back to about eighteen inches 
high, a few plants at a time, so the 
border may not look shabby, give the 
plants a drink of liquid sheep manure, 
and behold in a week they are like new! 
If the whole border is gone over in this 
way, the blooms may be kept at their 
best for a long period. 
The buff Drummondii Phlox is some- 
times listed under the name lutea, and 
it is the most delicate and peacemaking 
addition to any garden plan where just 
that tone is needed. 
This is a simple plan of the “old re- 
liables” which are as well nigh “fool 
proof” as lovely things can be. 
den of annuals may be a thing of rare 
beauty, and to those who think of 
making one, may I say with pleading, 
please make a carefully thought out 
plan and don’t just 
order seeds and 
plant them hit-or- 
miss wherever 
whim may dictate 
on the day of plant- 
ing. Thoroughly 
satisfactory results 
have rarely if ever 
of such procedure. 
above is designed 
in bold proportions 
but it may be 
easily adapted to 
any available space 
by the simple 
method of reading 
on a different 
scale; equally the 
scheme may also 
be fitted to a wider 
border. 
Of course 
A gar-. 
been the product 
The plan shown 
