104 
HERBACEOUS GARDEN 
obliterate the fact that you have done so, is 
no easy matter. 
The rainbow border, beautiful as the descrip- 
tions of it are, with their gradations of colour, 
presents such difficulties when it comes to 
practical gardening, that you rarely can find 
any good gardener who will undertake it. 
Personally I have not happened to meet with 
a successful rainbow border, though doubtless 
in the hands of one who is artist and gardener 
as well, the subtle gradations of colour, and 
the accurate knowledge of the times of flower- 
ing and heights of the various plants can be 
dealt with successfully. 
My own attempt at it failed signally, 
possibly because it needed years of alteration 
and constant removal of plants to obtain any- 
thing like perfection. 
There seems to be a certain feeling for 
strong colour in the centres of these long 
borders, led up to through paler colours at the 
ends. A plan illustrating this has been kindly 
lent me by Mr Crisp, and will be found at the 
end of the book, for a border 300 feet long 
and 12 feet wide, and where an average of 
three and a half plants is allowed to each 
square yard. 
Where a pleasing contrast like a clump of 
