Combination Gardens for Small Plots - By M. R. Conover 



New 

 j Jersey 



SUGGESTIVE PLANS FOR COMBINATIONS OF FLOWERS AND VEGETABLES IN THE AVERAGE SUBUR- 

 BAN GARDEN WHERE NEITHER UTILITY NOR BEAUTY ARE TO BE SACRIFICED TO EACH OTHER 



WHERE the garden space is not large 

 and both Bowers and vegetables are 

 to be grown, a planting scheme which 

 unites the two is not impossible, but it 

 needs some forethought. Vegetables have 

 in themselves ornamental possibilities 

 which we usually ignore. Lettuce, parsley, 

 cabbage, pea vines, corn, etc., present 

 variations in color which are really lovely 

 if we consider them. Of course, we cannot 

 arrange our garden vegetables for contrast, 

 nor in effective masses, as we do our flowers 

 or ornamental plants; yet we need not 

 feel that this part of the garden must be 

 concealed nor considered remote from our 

 flowers if convenience demands its proxim- 

 itv. Firm, straight rows, clear of weeds and 

 bearing evidence of superior culture, are 

 an excellent foil for some flower gardens. 



The accompanying plans are intended 

 to suggest modes of combining the flower 

 garden with the vegetable areas so as to 

 present an attractive whole, restful and 

 pleasing to the worker or the leisurely 

 inclined. The plans as given are for gar- 

 den plots 60x60 ft., but can easily be 

 adapted to tracts of different form and 

 size, and are reproduced from actual 

 gardens that have given real pleasure to 

 their owners. I do not urge that these 

 plans are ideal or the best possible; but 

 only that they please, and may help other 

 owners of small lots to solve what often 

 is a hard problem. 



Plan Xo. 1 provides for flower beds 

 through the middle of the tract with 

 vegetables on either side. The vegetable 

 areas give a total of 2,610 sq. ft. for vege- 

 tables. Some space is saved within these 

 plots by running the rows lengthwise of 

 the patches. 



The main entrance is arbor-like in its 

 effect but in re; lity is merely a vine-covered 

 arch. Genuine arbors, however, are pro- 

 vided at the termination of the shorter 

 walks. They are not only convenient rest- 

 ing places but are essential to the garden 

 picture. A dial where the paths intersect 

 and a seat or a bird font at the termi- 

 nation of the long paths are attractive 

 adjuncts. 



Planting dwarf evergreens at the corner 

 of each flower section, nearest the centre 

 of the garden, gives an agreeable emphasis 

 to the garden's centre, effective both in 

 winter and summer. Four dwarf evergreen 

 trees are planted along the edge of each 

 flower section nearest the vegetable areas. 

 The dwarf globular arborvitae (Thuya 

 occidentalis, var. compacta) may be used 

 here, or the common American arborvitae. 



Sixteen dwarf evergreens will be required 

 for planting along the edges of the flower 

 sections. For the groups at the inter- 

 section of the paths, thirty-six specimens 

 of very dwarf evergreens planted eighteen 



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References: i. Dwarf evergreens: 2, double white holly- 

 hocks; 3. canary yellow hollyhocks; 4. hardy yellow lark- 

 spur; 5, Formosa Giant blue larkspur; 6, yellow German iris 

 Darius; 7, lavender German iris Frederick; 8. Triumph for- 

 get-me-not (everblooming); 9, Little Gem sweet alyssum; 10, 

 Yellow trumpet daffodil Henry Irving; 11, purple China asters; 

 12, double white asters; 13, double white daffodils; 14, pansies 

 between border planting and daffodils; 15, wistaria; 16, morn- 

 ing glory Empress of Japan; T7, honeysuckle. 



1. — Central flower garden 



inches apart will be required, or twenty 

 specimens if planted two feet apart. 



These flowers will give the desired color 

 effects in purples and yellows: Double white 

 hollyhocks (Althea rosea, var. Snow White), 

 twenty plants in each group; hollyhock, 

 canary-yellow, for use in the groups near 

 the centre of the garden; hardy yellow 

 larkspur — Zalil, a sulphur yellow — sixty 

 plants; giant blue larkspur (Delphinium 

 formosum), sixty plants; yellow German 

 iris Darius, six or eight bulbs for each group; 

 lavender German iris Frederick, six or 

 eight bulbs for each group; forget-me-not 

 Triumph; sweet alyssum Little Gem; yel- 

 low trumpet daffodil Henry Irving, four 

 dozen bulbs; pure white double narcissus 

 (Alba plena odorata), or double poet's 

 narcissus, four dozen bulbs; purple and 

 double white China asters; pansies, Tri- 

 mardeau Giant, Lord Beaconsfield (purple) 

 and Trimardeau Giant Golden Crest; 

 wistaria, four plants; morning glory Em- 

 press of Japan; Hall's Japan honeysuckle. 



In plan No. 2, the garden tract is di- 

 vided in half, the foreground being planted 

 with flowers and the space beyond with 

 vegetables. A path leads to the vegetable 

 area through an arbor overgrown with the 

 Wichuraiana or Memorial rose. 



The spaces on the right and left of the 

 path are symmetrically planned. 



Except for the rose trees planted about 

 the spaces and along the walk, and the 

 crocus in the grass, the flowers used in this 

 garden are white. A privet hedge three 

 feet high surrounds the flower garden and 

 affords a background for its flowers. On 

 either side of the arbor are planted castor 



175 



oil plants (Ricinus) and Caladium escu- 

 lenlum). Flowers are massed in the border 

 beds. The space about the rose trees is 

 sown with lawn grass and regularly mowed. 

 This area is interesting in early spring 

 because of the crocus in the grass. 



Summer cypress and ornamental grasses 

 and the foliage of the plants themselves 

 furnish the only foil of color for the garden's 

 bloom. Tall growing plume grass is used 

 by way of contrast in the flower borders, 

 nearest the seats. Hardy perennial white 

 phlox is massed at either side of the walk 

 near the entrance. 



This garden requires the following varie- 

 ties of flowers: Hardy white perennial 

 phlox Joan of Arc or Mrs. Jenkins; ricinus, 

 six plants; Caladium esculentum, four 

 plants; Snow-white double hollyhock; 

 kochia or summer cypress; plume grass 

 (Erianthus Ravennce); pure white German 

 iris Florentine, twenty-four bulbs; Canter- 

 bury bells (Campanula Medium, var. caly- 

 canthema, or Campanula pyramidalis, var. 

 alba); German cosmos, large-flowering and 

 early; single pure white, fragrant Wichu- 

 raiana rose; white foxglove (Digitalis pur- 

 purea, var.); snapdragon Queen Victoria; 



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References: i, Hardy white perennial phlox; 2. ricinus 

 and Caladium esculentum; 3, double white hollyhocks; 4, 

 Kochia (summer cypress); 5, plume grass (Erianthus 

 Ravenna); 6, white German iris Florentine; 7, Canterbury 

 bells; 8, white Early cosmos; 9. Wichuraiana (Memorial) 

 rose; 10, white foxglove; n, snapdragon Queen Victoria; 

 12, ten-weeks stocks Mt. Blanc; 13, Shasta daisy; 14, tube- 

 rose; 15, crocus; 16, yucca; 17, columbine; 18, white candy- 

 tuft; ig, white dianthus; 20, white daffodils; 21, dusty mil- 

 ler (Cineraria mari ima); 22, double white balsam; 23. white 

 peonies; 24, yuccas; 25, sweet pea Mt. Blanc; 26, roses 

 trained to tree form. 



2. — Foreground of flowers and lawn 



ten weeks' stock Mt. Blanc; Shasta 

 daisy; tuberose Double Dwarf Pearl; 

 crocus Mt. Blanc (white) and David 

 Rizzio (heliotrope), 400 of each; Yucca 

 ftlamentosa or Adam's needle; columbine; 

 Aquilegia vulgaris, var. alba; candytuft 

 Empress, or Giant White Hyacinth- 

 flowered; Margaret carnation, double 



