TYING AND ASSOCIATING HARDY FLOWERS. 



249 



Fig. 120. Ge.ntiana asclepiad.ha. 



in the case of very tall flowers much exposed 

 to high winds, where cords may be substituted 

 with advantage. In tying, again, plants are 

 often neglected and then tied into an ugly 

 bunch. Where time will permit a great many 

 of the taller flowers, such as delphiniums, 

 helianthuses, phloxes and others, should have 

 each stem attached separately to the stake. 

 Any one who tries this will soon find how 

 much more elegant the flower spikes look than 

 if they were all crowded together in a bunch. 



Where it is a desideratum that the borders 

 and beds should be kept in the finest possible 

 condition, decayed flowers, seed pods and heads 

 should be removed as soon as they become fit. 

 It is, however, advisable to retain those which 

 produce berries or even the seed pods of some of the irises, which are often very in- 

 teresting. It is not always possible to keep borders in such a careful way, and many 

 prefer to allow the plants to seed in order that 

 they may have the opportunity of raising 

 natural hybrids and crosses without the trouble 

 of collecting and sowing the seeds. 



In some gardens, where particular care is 

 taken to have the borders always unusually 

 attractive, large numbers of plants are grown 

 in pots, so that when one flower goes out of 

 bloom it is removed from the border and 

 another inserted in its place. This system 

 involves a great deal of labour and expense. 



The choice of an edging for border flowers 

 is an important one. Beds on grass, if they 

 are formed of mixed flowers, may have an 

 edging of stones firmly fixed in the soil. Be- 

 hind these, flowers of dwarf or trailing habit 

 vol. 1. k K 



Fig. 121. 



A PLEASING ASSOCIATION PhLOS 



and Ibises. 



