Formal Flov/er-Beds 



stances in Paris, and the effect is best when 

 the grass furnishes a perfectly quiet back- 

 ground for its gay but not crude or gaudy 

 garland. 



Of course the early spring and summer 

 aspect of such borders is different from the 

 aspect I have described ; but it must be 

 equally charming, for then flowering bulbs 

 fill the spaces where the summer flowers are 

 to follow them, and most of the standard 

 shrubs are in blossom. From the artistic 

 point of view these beds are a great deal 

 better, in very many situations, than the 

 best flat and clipped pattern-bed could be ; 

 they are less mechanical in both form and 

 color while distinctly symmetrical in ef- 

 fect, and they show more variety in detail 

 while general harmony is well preserved. 

 The true lover of plants should prefer them, 

 for they allow their furnishings to grow in 

 free development ; they permit the use of an 

 almost endless list of beautiful flowers ; and, 

 discreetly visited by the scissors, they may 

 yield harvests for the adornment of the 

 house. From the practical point of view 

 their superiority is as manifest. The stand- 



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