THE SPIRES AND MINARETS IN MY GARDEN 
CAMILLE HART IRVINE 
A MIXED GARDEN BORDER 
The effectiveness of which is largely dependent upon a lavish Use 
of Larkspur which introduces requisite height and character 
GARDEN may be 
T/ XT' radiant with colorand 
fragrant with per- 
dfLJLM. fume, but if all Hat 
and low, like a tune without a 
treble, it leaves one unsatisfied, 
leaves one longing for spots in 
it where 
“Every plant sends up its little spire 
To point to God, and lift the heart 
up higher.” 
Much of the charm of my own 
garden is due to its lifted notes 
of color — a tall minaret here 
and there, clustered spires 
rising out of a border of Per- 
ennials which shelters spires 
and minarets of every hue. 
Against the back wall of the 
house is a row of Tree Celan- 
dine or Plume Poppy (Boc- 
conia cordata), growing six 
feet high and covered with 
lovely white, spire-shaped pan- 
icles two feet in length that 
bloom in July, and remain as 
fluffy, feathery seed pods until 
winter, forming a stately 
FOXGLOVE AND FORGET- 
M E-NO F 
Embroidering the margin of a 
broad grass walk with cool blue 
and cream white. The eager, 
pointed tips of. the Foxglove seem 
to suggest that there is something 
worth while just around the bend 
1. Delphinium Moerheimei 3. Delphinium formosum 5 Eremurus robustus 
2. Delphinium belladonna 4 Eremurus himalaicus 6. Galtonia candicans 
7. Yucca filamentosa 
THE PLANTING PLAN OF THE VINE-COVERED ARBOR 
A simple one, easily followed, and productive of the most gratifying 
results to the gardener who cares for blooms of this distinctive nature 
have, and 1 cannot understand why it is so rarely used. 
Planted three feet apart they will form rounded bushes seven 
feet high, which are covered with luxuriant and perfectly shaped 
spikes two feet long. They bloom in June and July and look 
like huge, marvelous candelabra. If the plants are cut down to 
twelve or fourteen inches from the ground, and no seed pods 
allowed to form, they will bloom again late in the fall. The 
heavenly blue of the D. belladonna minarets and the deep blue 
of the D. formosum, show up vividly against the snowy white- 
ness of Moerheimei. The graceful Eremurus in front, each year 
thrust up to the height of eight feet more and more slender 
minarets, pink and pure white, like great cathedral candles. 
Eremurus is so unusual and perfectly hardy (mine, now grow- 
ing in Pennsylvania, came from the old Mt. Desert Nurseries), 
with clumps every year bigger and stronger, that it should be 
welcome in any garden. Hyacinthus candicans is much less 
showy and sends up spires only about four feet high, but it 
blooms twice during the summer and the tiny, pure-white bells' 
make delightful harmony together with the lovely old Yuccas 
at each end. 
In another spot in mv garden is a cluster of blue spires — the 
wonderful blue of Speedwell (Veronica longifolia subsessilis), 
and near by the thin, candle-shaped blossoms of False Dragon 
Head (Physostegia), both white and pink. All three of these 
bloom continually as long as they are kept from seeding. 
Then there is a long, narrow bed against the iron fence where 
screen. 1 started with only 
two plants but they send 
shoots from the roots and 
multiply rapidly — too rapidly 
indeed for some places! 
One of the most interesting 
and effective spots in the gar- 
den is a vine-covered arbor 
in the full sun, planted so the 
two sides match exactly. 
There are four Delphinium 
Moerheimei three feet apart; 
in front of which are two D. 
belladonna with one D. for- 
mosum in between; in front 
of these there are four Erem- 
urus; and in front of them are 
three Galtonia (Hyacinthus) 
candicans with a huge Yucca 
at each end as sentinel. 
Delphinium Moerheimei is 
the most beautiful Perennial 1 
A A A A 
& A A 
A.MAJ 
A ^ $ & A 
4AM 
AAA 
A A A A A 
324 
