THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
227 
tem of gardening more difficult or one that more truly re¬ 
quires the artist’s hand to insure a tasteful arrangement 
than the mixed border. All well-ordered gardens are apt 
to get considerably “ mixed ” in our desires to have a 
variety, and variety is, after all, the great idol which the 
majority of mankind worship; and for variety’s sake it is 
the common custom to make almost any sacrifice. Now, 
we do not in the least object to this desire, and in all gar¬ 
dening operations and arrangements there is little or no 
folly in becoming one of variety’s devotees. Our only 
desire is to have harmony in form and color the en¬ 
tire season in the mixed border ; then, the greater the 
variety, the more interesting and instructive will be the 
garden. 
Variety is at war more or less against the practice, now 
so common, of massing colors to make up a flower-garden, 
or long ribbon borders, which make a gaudy display; but, 
paradoxical as it appears, the question may be raised 
whether gaudy colors are not obtained at the expense of 
effect. On this matter there is, and probably ever will 
be, a diversity of opinion. Long lines of colors, as are 
noticeable in borders of coleus, or large masses of glar¬ 
ing colors, such as a bed of scarlet pelargoniums affords, 
would never particularly, attract our attention. Our 
preference is decidedly in favor of natural instead of 
mechanical effects. We want our border to present a 
new feature every day : we want an ever-varying picture, 
with some striking object to interest us each morning, 
instead of looking out on the same mass of color and 
closely cut forms for a period of three or four months. 
We admire our morning-glories more than any flowers 
in our garden, not so much because of the intensity as 
of the variety of their colors. Our veranda does not pre¬ 
sent the same appearance any two days during the sea¬ 
son ; consequently, there is a new study every morning 
which we rush eagerly to see. The same effect is to be 
noticed in the mixed border; we make our different 
groups of lilies and gladioli harmonize perfectly by 
placing the latter in small clumps, each color separate, 
and a constant change is kept up by planting at different 
periods. In our border of hardy plants we have suf¬ 
ficient space to introduce tender ones, in order to secure 
a continual and ever varying succession of flowers. 
By cutting back our delphiniums, in part, we have them 
in flower from June to October, and young plants from 
seed sown in March will flower long after frost has de¬ 
stroyed more tender subjects. Near these we plant La 
Candeur or some other choice white gladiolus, and their 
flowers mingle together in the most perfect harmony. 
Beside a mass of Euphorbia corollata we have a clump 
of Brenchleyensis, the most vivid scarlet of all the gladi¬ 
oli. We fill our border in the same manner, using as 
great a variety of plants as space and purse will permit, 
and by this method it is a place for rare enjoyment and 
pure delight. Every morning there is some new study to 
instruct as well as please. And, after all, if the garden 
does not improve the mind as well as please the eye, if it 
does not furnish food for thought, it does not accomplish 
its mission—at least, not an important one. 
But it does not, therefore, follow that colors should not 
be massed; they may be. To be effective, color must be 
decided or obvious, and to be decided or obvious it must 
not be too much broken or scattered. Masses should be 
proportionate in size and number to the size of the bor¬ 
der. It will therefore require constant care and watch¬ 
fulness to contract rather than to enlarge the groups of 
flower-border plants, in order that a given space may 
show a contrast or variety of color, instead of an un¬ 
broken monotonous mass. No rule can be laid down to 
regulate the size of masses ; size is always relative, and 
what is large in one place would be small in another, so 
that no absolute rule as regards the size of masses can 
be drawn in respect to the distribution of colors. Be¬ 
sides, individual taste is somewhat arbitrary, some re¬ 
quire a greater amount of any given color, or of a par¬ 
ticular form of flower than another, consequently a very 
different arrangement will be necessary to secure har¬ 
mony ; but without regard to preferences harmony can 
always be secured by the exercise of taste and judgment. 
Mignonette can always be used to advantage, its lovely 
green leaves and flowers contrast beautifully with the 
scarlet blossoms of the annual phlox that agree so well 
with it for size; the combination is admirably adapted for 
covering the spaces occupied in early spring with hya¬ 
cinths and tulips. For such places these annuals have a 
double use—they serve as a mulch to the bulbs at rest, a 
very useful purpose, and prolong the season of bloom. 
Petunias can be planted around a clump of paeonies in 
such a manner as to completely hide their dried-up foli¬ 
age, and make a beautiful mound of showy flowers ; and 
for cut-flowers for table decoration there are none more 
useful than some of the new types of petunias. In a 
large border sweet-peas may be trained up on a trellis, 
where they will bloom the whole season if the flowers are 
frequently cut, and no seed allowed to ripen. We have 
often urged the growing of these annuals, as they have 
no rival for beauty or fragrance. Besides thefr arrange¬ 
ment in vases is so simple, all they require is a monopoly 
of the vase, they will not permit other company—in fact, 
they are so lovely and pure that they are sullied by any 
other company. In the border they rise above their fel¬ 
lows and shed their sweetness over all. 
We encourage the formation of mixed borders, because 
almost every flower-garden planted in this way may be 
made to contain three or four times as many kinds of 
plants, as if otherwise filled; and the border may be 
made a mass of bloom in ever varying variety the whole 
season. Flowers should minister to all our tastes and 
senses, not merely to the eye alone; they should be 
teachers, and as such, a variety should be selected; the 
greater the variety the more we shall learn of the great¬ 
ness and goodness of the Creator. Our gardens should 
be so filled that every morning there will be a new object 
to love and admire, something that will draw us to it 
and fill us with love and thanksgiving that will last us 
through the day, and fit us to meet life’s trials manfully 
and cheerfully. If our hearts are filled with the beauti¬ 
ful and good, which is manifested in the flower, there will 
be but little room for the indwelling of the evil and false, 
Inoculate the minds of your children with a true love for 
flowers, and lofty noble thoughts will be their chief pleas¬ 
ures. 
