THE MIXED BORDER 107 
this reason should be planted on the poorest 
and driest spot to be found, for it is too good 
a thing to be eliminated. It is not only the 
tall plants that need to be watched in this 
respect, London Pride will overflow its borders 
without scruple, and so will Nepeta Mussini. 
Chrysanthemum maximum , sidalcea, asters, 
some of the campanulas, grandis especially, 
galega, saponaria (a dreadful weed in rich soil), 
helianthus, Coronilla rosea , all need to be guarded 
against ; the last named I would never admit 
at all. 
Do not try to fill your borders so full of 
blossoms that you cannot distinguish one from 
the other. It is not at all a matter for con- 
gratulation when you say that not a square 
inch can be found in your border, or above it, 
without a flower. Nor fall into the opposite 
error of seeing each plant and stake rising 
from neat brown earth. If you have wisely 
planted, with a view to future increase, carpet 
your ground with annuals, saxifrage or funkia, 
that can be moved in time to make room for 
the new growth of the next year of the 
perennial plant, and so avoid any empty 
spaces. 
In thinking out the arrangement of the 
plants, it is well to classify mentally the up- 
