The Garden Magazine, April, 1924 
113 
A DRIVEWAY PLANTING THAT HAS SPARKLE WITHOUT DISCORD 
M. E. Hewitt, photo. 
Fine effects are not far to seek if the designer is perceptive of the possibilities of plants and places; many quite 
ordinary things achieve distinction, as here where Barberry, Cedars, Clematis, and Maple are understandingly 
associated at the Greenwich (Conn.) home of Mrs. H. W. Croft; James L. Greenleaf, Landscape Architect 
composition, though shapes and textures also receive due consid¬ 
eration; whereas in a planting emphasis may shift from one to 
the other. For example, the first thing we note about a tree is its 
form; the first thing we remember about a flower is its color; thus: 
Salvia Larkspur Sunflower 
red blue yellow 
Shrubs have not as definite individual forms as trees nor do they 
depend as much as flowers on the color of their bloom for their 
character. Their individuality and value is more in their foliage. 
Why Willows are Quiet Trees 
F OLIAGE means leaves. A plant may be emphatic or sub¬ 
dued according to the nature of its leaves. Willows, for 
instance, are quiet trees because their leaves are many and uni¬ 
form, small and evenly distributed, and of a good green. Com¬ 
pare the Willow with the hardy Catalpa in the landscape, with 
its large scattered and showy light green leaves, and you see at 
once why these two trees have such different uses. The Willow 
can be used often and the Catalpa but rarely. We can stand 
masses of Willows, for they are not startling; but a Catalpa is 
best alone or with a background of more neutral tones. 
There are as great differences among the shrubs. Compare 
the great compound leaves of the Dwarf Horse-chestnut with 
the neat simple foliage of Cornelian-cherry. The Weeping 
Cherry and English Hawthorn have foliage as far apart as the 
poles and, incidentally, how many planters do you think realize 
its commonplace foliage when they plant the Weeping Cherry? 
Color also affects texture of leaves. Our common Honey¬ 
suckle gives neutral masses of dark blue-green that act well as a 
harmonizer. The garden Weigela gives a more lively mass, 
strongly yellow-green and coarse. It is invited not for its leaves, 
but obviously for its blossom—yet its foliage compared with 
that of the golden-leaved Mockorange seems almost reticent. 
Blue-green foliage is as a rule easier to use than yellow-green. 
Foliage as well as bloom puts a plant in the “specimen” 
class or marks it as a “filler.” The Flowering Dogwood is 
interesting enough to be used as a specimen either with masses 
of different plants or by itself. 
Gaining Beauty in Mass 
S OME plants may be insignificant taken as specimens yet 
when massed and used as fillers assume distinct character. 
Wild Roses are a case in point, also Fragrant Sumac, Gray Dog¬ 
wood, and Yellowroot. Anyone of these would be thin and meagre 
used alone, but all are among our most valued mass plants. 
The same is true among the flowers. Grow a single plant of 
Phlox and you are disappointed. Use it with five to fifteen 
others and you get the real character of Phlox. On the other 
hand one Mullein, used at an auspicious point, is more effective 
than a rocky hillside quite covered. 
Plants good as fillers of masses have a value not fully appre- 
