Planning the Garden Picture. 
Every garden should be laid 
out with the idea of making a pret¬ 
ty picture, one that will probably 
be seen for many years. 
In laying out a new yard be sure 
to preserve an open lawn center. A 
well kept open lawn is an adjunct 
to any home, adding greatly to its 
beauty and value. Never spoil a 
nice lawn by putting a flower bed, 
a tree or shrub in the center of it. 
This does not mean, however, that 
a beautiful old tree should be re¬ 
moved just because it is where you 
want to have a lawn, but we do not 
need to plant them there ourselves. 
The best position for the flower 
border or bed is at the edges of the 
yard, allowing the shrubs and flow¬ 
ers to act as a wall to your outside 
living room. Except in formal gar¬ 
dens straight lines should be avoid¬ 
ed for a curved line is much more 
beautiful and offers better oppor¬ 
tunities for plant arrangement. 
The best picture is made when the 
plants are placed in irregular 
masses, remembering to keep the 
colors so that they harmonize. 
When the base of the picture is 
built with hardy plants we are 
making for ourselves a picture that 
will have many pleasant surprises 
for us later on, for each day there 
is some new development. Begin¬ 
ning in April we may find some 
plant such as the Viola (often un¬ 
der the mulch) ready to expand in¬ 
to full bloom and gladden every 
heart with the message, “Spring is 
here.” Then follows in quick suc¬ 
cession the bright yellow Basket of 
Gold, Rock Cress, early Daisies, the 
graceful Columbine, the gorgeous 
Iris, the wonderful Peonies, the 
various blue Delphiniums, the yel¬ 
low Coreopsis, and the beautiful 
Gaillardia. During late sum¬ 
mer we have a grand display of 
color from the highly colored phlox, 
the color range including, laven¬ 
ders, pinks, salmon pinks, dark 
red, scarlet, white, orange and pur¬ 
ple. In September comes the dark 
blue Monkshood and Asters, and as 
the season closes we will find the 
Viola one of the last flowers to 
brave the cold weather. 
If we want very early bloom in 
our gardens we may plant bulbs 
in the fall such as scillas, tulips, 
narcissus, hyacinths and crocus. 
The crocus may start showing col¬ 
or as soon as the snow is melted. 
While it is not impossible to have 
continuous bloom from perennials 
alone under our Minnesota condi¬ 
tions the most pleasing results are 
generally obtained by using a few 
annuals among the perennials, to 
give our garden picture more color 
during the summer when there 
may be only a few perennials in 
bloom, and also to cover or hide 
some of the plants that become 
more or less unsightly as the sea¬ 
son advances. 
At our nursery the corners and 
edges planted to bulbs are all cov¬ 
ered with shallow rooted annuals. 
Since single plants scattered hit 
and miss in the garden do not make 
an effective display it is best to 
plan to plant in masses. Many gar¬ 
dens would be greatly improved if 
the gardeners would plant fewer 
kinds of flowers and a greater 
number of each kind. Planting in 
masses applies to both perennials 
and annuals. In the small garden 
mass planting can be accomplished 
by changing the kinds of annuals 
each year; for example if Petunias 
and Snapdragons are grown this 
year, next year plant Phlox and 
Verbena. 
Many people are under the false 
impression that once planted a pe¬ 
rennial garden is finished, but a 
completed garden would be an im¬ 
possibility to a garden enthusiast. 
One man in England has been fif¬ 
teen years building his garden pic¬ 
ture. All gardeners are constantly 
learning new things about plants 
and want to try some of the new 
varieties being introduced. It is a 
good idea to make written notes of 
plants seen in our friend’s garden, 
especially if you think the plant 
would help make your own garden 
picture better. 
COLOR HARMONY IN YOUR GARDEN (Continued from Page 4) 
Blue is liked by everybody. It is 
similar to the color of the sky and 
water, has dignity and gives one a 
sense of poise and restfulness. Silver 
and gold emphasize the luminous effect 
of blue. Violet is a quieting “shadow” 
color impressing one with solemnity 
and royalty. It seems to need yellow 
as a companion. 
Orange contains the brightness of 
yellow and the warm of red. It is 
an aggressive color. 
Green, combining the coolness of 
blue and the cheerfulness of yellow is a 
delightful color, which never tires one. 
It is a universal color. 
Colors of the Season 
In observing nature we find that cer¬ 
tain colors dominate the various sea¬ 
sons of the year. During early spring 
white and yellow reign supreme. In 
early summer there is a great abun¬ 
dance of pink flowers, followed in mid¬ 
summer by large quantities of blue 
and yellow flowers. For the harvest 
season gold and violet dominate the 
scene. 
Enough other colors are interspersed 
in each season to avoid monotony. A 
rather close following of this seasonal 
progress of color is a good plan for the 
small garden where it is desired to have 
many colors during the blooming sea¬ 
son. 
Pleasing Combinations 
Any one color with green gives a 
pleasing effect and is natural. 
Very striking and interesting com¬ 
binations are produced when colors of 
absolute contrast are brought together. 
For our six simple colors the contrast¬ 
ing or complimentary colors are Blue 
and Orange; Yellow and Purple; Green 
and Red. Related colors (those close 
together in a color chart) make attrac¬ 
tive blendings. Combinations of the 
various tints of the different colors pro¬ 
duce the most delicate color effects. 
Suggestions 
1. Green is the best and most na¬ 
tural color to use as a background. 
Colored stone walls, fences and build¬ 
ings often make it difficult to get de¬ 
sired effects. Gray, a good background 
color, is cold and has a tendency to dis¬ 
solve other colors. 
2. As a rule strong colors should be 
used sparingly and placed at points 
farthest from the eye, at the end or rear 
of the garden. 
3. The softer and paler colors should 
be given the foreground, affording an 
opportunity to appreciate their deli¬ 
cacy and charm. 
4. It has been found best to use 
larger quantities of the cool and pale 
colors than you do of the warm and 
vibrating ones. 
5. Sometimes it is necessary to use 
a peace maker as white, cream or pale 
yellow to bring the stronger colors in¬ 
to better harmony. Avoid using the 
peacemakers so freely that you give 
your garden a spotty effect. 
6. Let the color of your garden take 
a natural course and only try to super¬ 
vise elements that are difficult to har¬ 
monize. 
7. Unity and balance must be main¬ 
tained both in the color scheme and 
lay-out of the garden. In the small 
garden it is often advisable to have a 
dominant color. This may be seasonal, 
as yellow in spring; blue in summer; 
gold or purple in the fall. Have mass¬ 
es of the dominant color in each sec¬ 
tion of the garden; making the garden 
one, rather than several pictures. To 
avoid monotony flowers of other colors 
are blended with the dominant color. 
Let us help you in selecting the va¬ 
rieties which will assure you a most 
harmonious and colorful garden pic¬ 
ture. 
Page 6 
