FLORA 



AND 5YLVA. 



Vol.1. No. 2.] MAY, 1 903. [Monthly. 



AZURE AND BLUE FLOWERS IN THE WILD GARDEN. 



The greatest addition to simple and good colour that has ever been made to our 

 garden and home landscape has been the growth of Narcissi in the orchard, 

 meadow, or other grass. These flowers being so good and free and as hardy 

 as the hardiest wild plant, nothing surpasses them for effect. Two common 

 dangers, however, are often seen: first, overcrowding, in which the whole sur- 

 face of the grass is dotted over; and second, the use of mixtures instead of dis- 

 tinct kinds. The first destroys all good effect ; the second, as we see in some 

 parks, is also the wrong way to go to work. It is only when the plants are 

 grouped naturally and simply in the turf with plenty of verdure about them that 

 we get their best effects. Nothing is weaker than a mixture of a number of 

 kinds. We do not say that mixtures are not occasionally good : two well-chosen 

 kinds very often go together with graceful result, but the best way is to keep 

 the kinds apart. Even kinds which seen in the hand might be called second- 

 rate often give, when grown in the turf, most beautiful colour, seen at a distance. 

 However, the main object of this article is to show that we are only in the be- 

 ginning of the refinements of the wild garden, and that to put Narcissi out 

 freely, as they are now offered by the thousand, is only a small step compared 

 to what we should take. 



Another and distinct series of colours must be added to them, and the best 

 are the azure and blue flowers of the mountains and northern pastures. It is 

 when these are seen in relation with the Narcissi in the form of carpets near or 

 beneath them that we get one of the most charming effects that any flower- 

 planting can give. Apart from the beauty of these azure and blue flowers, 

 there is the incidental gain of using them in the most effective way, and that 

 which will give us the least trouble. Many of them are so short-lived in 

 bloom, that if we occupied the flower garden with them they might be in the 

 way of summer flowers, which we look to to last through the fine season. Not 

 only is their bloom short-lived, but occasionally the season, like the present, is 

 so severe that they may be cut off in their prime. Hence the advantage of 

 using the azure and blue flowers, where they will be no trouble to us and we 

 need only concern ourselves about them when we see them in beauty. For 



