52 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



September, 1914 



treme example is Victorine, in which the 

 standards are white delicately splashed with 

 purple and the falls are pansy purple, almost 

 of pansy quality in texture. Members of 

 the Variegata, Squalens and Amcena groups 

 are likely to be of this nature and are 

 valuable for their contrast of colors rather 

 than for any particular transparency. 



A rather pleasant advantage may be 

 taken of the degree of transparency of the 

 petal tissue by arranging the plants in 

 certain ways within the garden. Varieties 

 with similar texture throughout and with 

 considerable luminosity from delicacy of 

 color are more attractive if they are planted 

 in some portion of the garden where light 

 may shine through 

 them. Planted 

 against a background 

 of higher perennials 

 or shrubs, it is often 

 impossible to stand 

 so that such an effect 

 can be noted, but by 

 planting in a more 

 central garden bed the 

 light can play from 

 all sides and yet the 

 flowers will have the 

 background of the ad- 

 jacent beds. On the 

 other hand, the two- 

 textured varieties, 

 save those of the 

 Squalens group which 

 need illumination, 

 gain somewhat in 

 richness if they are 

 planted against some 

 great background of 

 green, so that the line 

 of sight follows the 

 direction of the light 

 which illumines the 

 flowers. 



As may have been 

 guessed before this, 

 light plays an im- 

 portant part in the 

 effects made by iris. 

 From the obligate cul- 

 tural requirements, there must be sun in the 

 parts of the garden devoted to iris, yet 

 within that sunny area one has considerable 

 opportunity for placing iris so that certain 

 light effects can be enjoyed. This is 

 especially true in the morning and evening. 

 Pure, clear blues such as we have in pallida 

 Dalmatica, Celeste and similar forms, look 

 equally well in shadow and in sun; all of 

 the yellows and yellow-and-browns look 

 better in full sun, where they make very 

 glowing color. The bronzes and copper 

 reds improve with full sunlight because the 

 yellow in the color is intensified and the 

 tendency to brown is overcome. All of the 

 pinks, in which there is any yellow, look 

 better in sun than in shadow. This is 

 true of Queen of May, Miralba, Rose 

 Unique and others. On the other hand, 

 pinks like Mrs. Allen Gray, in which there 

 is an undertone of blue, look well in shadow 

 where the blue enters into the shadow 



effect and leaves a clear pink. The yellows 

 in which there is a pink caste are equally 

 unpleasant anywhere. Darius, Princess of 

 Teck, and Rigoletto are good examples of 

 this class and are distinctly poor in color. 

 Of the remaining purples, purple blues, 

 and red violets, personal taste must decide. 

 On the whole, the more red in the color, 

 the more sunlight is possible for good effect, 

 and the more blue in the color, the more 

 pleasant the color in shadow. For example, 

 Edouard Michell, a wonderful new hybrid 

 of rosy plum color, looks well in either 

 position but is a little more sparkling in the 

 sunlight; on the other hand, Kochi and 

 spectabilis, dark claret varieties, are both 



I"he collector will find abundant interest in the German irises, which give a wonderfully fancy border 



a little better in shadow, as strong light 

 gives a slightly faded feeling to the color. 

 The matters are purely relative, however, 

 and often may be modified by the plant 

 next to the iris. 



The matter of neighboring plants is no 

 small question. After the passing of the 

 flowers, iris maintain a fairly good appear- 

 ance through the season. Members of 

 the Pallida group have noticeably fine 

 foliage. Unlike other plants, iris will not 

 tolerate crowding neighbors, useful to 

 cover up any shabbiness of summer dress. 

 They will survive, of course, and flower 

 sparingly, but they are not the iris to be 

 desired. Many plants can be used, how- 

 ever, and often wonderful effects may be 

 had with the colors. In a friend's garden, 

 Phlox divaricata was planted so that it 

 formed a mass just below the delicate pink 

 iris, Mrs. Allen Gray. The blue of the 

 phlox absorbed, in visual effect, the blue 



cast of the iris and left a clear pink color. 

 This is quite similar to the action of lightly 

 cast shadows on the same variety. Then, 

 of course, we have the time-honored custom 

 of combining pallida Dalmatica with 

 H enter ocallis flava. The orange colored 

 Hemerocallis Dumortierii is too strong in 

 value for pallida Dalmatica but is very 

 effective with some of the darker blue 

 purples as some of the Cypriana varieties, 

 or Neglecta varieties such as Perfection. 

 Another charming combination noted in 

 the same garden is flavescens, a delicate 

 sulphur-colored species, with one of the low 

 Veronicas as V. amethystina or spicata. 

 This iris looks well near pallida Dalmatica 

 but often passes its 

 best bloom just a few 

 days before pallida. 

 Iris spectabilis, a rich 

 and purple self, Kochi, 

 a similar one, and the 

 varieties of Florentina 

 bloom together and 

 open the season of 

 German iris in May. 

 The color contrast is 

 somewhat violent 

 when they are com- 

 bined, and they are 

 best used separately. 

 The globe flowers 

 (Trollius spp.) all look 

 well with spectabilis, 

 especially the darker 

 orange kinds. And so 

 combinations might 

 be multiplied. There 

 are so many plants 

 in flower with the 

 German iris that ma- 

 terials are not hard 

 to find. Perhaps on 

 the whole it is safest 

 to avoid pink flowers 

 of any sort in the 

 garden, at iris time, 

 especially near any 

 varieties of the pink 

 or claret color. Haunt- 

 ing recollections of 

 late Darwin tulips like Clara Butt and 

 Gretchen near Florentine or Mrs. G. Reuthe 

 are persuasive but dangerous in the garden 

 whole, which must contain many brilliant 

 yellows and red violets. White from 

 Stellaria, Phlox subulata, Cerastium, Iberis, 

 and Arabis is always safe; soft lavenders 

 from some of the varieties of Phlox subulata 

 and Phlox Stellaria are good; Mertensia, 

 Pulmonaria, Philox divaricata, veronica 

 gentianoides , Omphalodes verna, Myosotis, 

 Veronica spicata and amethystina, all give 

 good blues and related purples; yellows we 

 can get from late tulips such as the ex- 

 quisite retroflexa, Mrs. Moon, Miss Will- 

 mott, Prince of Orange and so on, also from 

 various ranunculus, trollius, Aquilegia 

 chrysantha, Hemerocallis, Alyssum saxatile 

 and such plants. Since we are keeping 

 fairly close to complementary colors, ar- 

 rangements are more or less inevit- 

 able. The rose and yellow, copper, and 



