Septembkh, 19 9 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



65 



bugbane or cimicifuga. On a smaller scale 

 are snapdragons, lupines, and veronicas. 

 Hollyhocks make strong vertical lines with 

 their stems and so do perennial sunflowers, 

 the plume poppy, the madonna lily, and 

 the giant reed or arundo. 



Dome-like bushes often look well against 

 public buildings crowned by domes. And 

 if your house is characterized by horizontal 

 lines, you may repeat those lines in flowers 

 that have broad flat clusters, e. g., sweet 

 Williams, achilleas, Sedum spectabile, and 

 some varieties of phlox. Doubtless it could 

 be better done with shrubs, especially vibur- 

 nums. But I hope no one will let such ideas 

 run away with him. The vertical lines 

 are worth considering, but I would always 

 have something that combines vertical lines 

 with the power to soften architectural hard- 

 ness, e. g. the fluffy plumes of Stenanthium 

 robuslum or the arching leaves of bamboos 

 or reeds. 



There is an architectural quality in the 

 panicles of Rodgersia shown herewith, 

 and the leaves might almost be called 

 "monumental," for they are bronzy green, 

 about a foot across and parted into five broad 

 divisions. I think Mr. Fremlin has done 

 well to bring perennials and grass right up 

 to his doorstep, for he lives among the 

 flowers in a garden like that of Mr. W. C. 

 Egan at Highland Park, 111. Ordinarily, 

 however, a house needs some formal planting 

 to make a transition between architecture 

 and nature. And, while some of my readers 

 may be captivated by the fine effect of this 

 Rodgersia, they should remember that herbs 

 die down in winter. In my opinion, the 

 most appropriate plants for the immediate 

 environment of a house are broad-leaved 

 evergreens, especially mountain laurel, rho- 

 dodendrons and English ivy. As this picture 

 of Rodgersia will doubtless start many 

 inquiries I must say that the plant does 

 well on the north side of a house, if pro- 

 tected from heavy winds, as it is a shade- 

 lover. In England gardeners are careful 

 to give it a peaty soil. 



GRAY FOLIAGE IN PICTURES 



I believe the English know better than we 

 how to use plants with gray or silvery leaves, 

 such as pinks, the rockcress, golddust, the 

 woolly chickweed and lavender cotton. So 

 great a variety is there that you may have 

 gray leaved plants with flowers of almost 

 any color or season of bloom you desire. I 

 would not use many tall plants with gray 

 leaves because they are very conspicuous, 

 like the high lights of a picture. Fortunately 

 most of the gray-leaved perennials are dwarf 

 and spreading, so that they can be used rather 

 freely for carpeting the ground between taller 

 plants. We all know that white flowers are 

 peacemakers in a border, but only the elect 

 seem to understand that gray foliage has the 

 same function. Our summers are so much 

 hotter than those of England that we ought 

 to use an abundance of white flowers and 

 gray foliage. It is easy to overdo silvery 

 masses, especially if you put them next to 

 dark patches, where the contrast may be 

 too strong. But gray is a softer color and 



Rodgersia, a perennial for architectural effects, its spikes repeating the vertical lines of a house 



gray leaves often have a woolly texture. 

 Moreover, gray is a notable harmonizer of 

 purple, magenta, and crimson-pink flowers, 

 which cause perhaps nine-tenths of the color 

 discords in ordinary gardens. On the other 

 hand, gray foliage has a remarkable effect 

 upon blue flowers, enhancing their purity 

 and luster. For these reasons I should use 

 gray foliage chiefly to carpet the ground 

 beneath blue flowers and those of the purple 

 section. 



BOLD PICTURES ON LAWNS 



The English do not spoil their lawns as 

 often as we do by scattering fine specimens 

 over them. But they often feel the need of 

 a formal bed of flowers near the edge of the 

 lawn or near the house. Under such circum- 

 stances Americans are likely to use tender 

 plants when hardy ones would be more 

 pictorial in flower and more attractive in 



foliage. A good example is the elm-leaved 

 spirea shown on page 64. If you will 

 place your hand over the flowers you will 

 see how attractive the foliage is when the 

 plant is not in bloom. I mentioned many 

 other long-blooming perennials and plants 

 with attractive foliage in an article called 

 "England's New Kind of Flower Bed,'* 

 in The Garden Magazine for May, 1909. 

 There is a right and wrong way of getting 

 subtropical effects in a northern country. 

 Tender plants never look acclimatized. 

 Why not study the great tropical genera and 

 find out the northernmost species of each ? 

 For example, if we want the bamboo feeling 

 in our gardens why not use Phyllostachys 

 nigra, viridi-glaucescens, and other hardy 

 bamboos, instead of fancy grasses that must 

 be raised every year from seed ? If we want 

 pinnate foliage, there are the Aralia cordata 

 and Cachemirica. The classical leaf form of 



One of the American heucheras which the English like for their lace-like beauty 



