June, i p i 6 
39 
■sii. 
Photograph by Beals in the seaside garden one prefers masses of dominating color 
FLOWERS FOR THE SEASIDE GARDEN 
A List of the Varieties Best Suited to Stand the Sea 
Air and Winds and Produce Effects for a Short Time 
ELIZABETH LEONARD STRANG 
G ENERALLY speaking, the seaside 
garden is a garden of short season. 
That is, it is needed for only about four 
months, during the presence of its owner 
from early in June to perhaps the end of 
September. The early spring and late fall 
flowers need not be considered, and so it 
comes about that we can plan for larger 
masses of each kind of bloom than are pos¬ 
sible in the full-time garden with its wider 
variety. 
Considered from the landscape view¬ 
point, we instinctively feel that the broad, 
simple lines obtaining at the shore should 
be met with breadth of treatment in the 
planting arrangement. In this way each 
individual garden, while contributing to the 
harmony of the landscape, will in itself be 
a miniature of the whole. As distinct from 
the more intimate city back yard, here we 
do not stoop over a 2x4 bed to admire a 
pansy, but prefer masses of dominating 
color that make us draw long, deep breaths; 
that fill the eyes without our having to 
move them from side to side; that complete 
the picture of “waves that never break on 
the beach,” fleecy banks of clouds, illimit¬ 
able sketches of blue sky and crescents of 
sandy shingle. 
Yet these masses of bloom, while broad 
in their general appeal, should be delicate 
in color. Larkspur of an ocean blue, pink, 
creamy white, pale yellow, orange, and co¬ 
balt blue-—these are fitting. As echoes or 
shadows of the foregoing, choose some of 
grey green, old rose and lavender blue. 
Such tints will harmonize better than the 
hot, screaming masses of scarlet salvia, nas¬ 
turtiums or cerise petunias, the mixture of 
which humbles the grand opera effect to 
the level of opera bouffe. 
It may safely be asserted that unless they 
are actually exposed to the sea or rocks, all 
perennials of average ease of cultivation 
will succeed in the seashore garden. The 
moisture and mildness usually present in the 
atmosphere near the ocean are conducive 
to luxuriant growth, so that if shelter and 
good soil are provided the plants are almost 
certain to thrive. 
Meeting Seaside Conditions 
On the other hand, to meet the opposite 
conditions—that is, poor soil and exposure 
—certain plants have been found especially 
suitable. These we may divide roughly 
into three periods of bloom: late spring or 
early summer, midsummer, and fall. 
For the first period, the following are 
excellent for the reason that they come into 
bloom in May and sometimes last well into 
June: Phlox subulata will carpet the 
ground with brilliant sheets of white and 
pink, as will hardy candytuft ( Iberis sem- 
pervirens ) with its glistening white masses, 
and dwarf Sedum acre. Other plants of a 
diminutive type that appear at the same 
time are the sea thrift ( Armeria maritima ), 
with slender stemmed pink blossoms; grass 
pinks, arabis and cerastium, all grey foli¬ 
age ; Iceland poppies, yellow, orange and 
white; and dark green mats of creeping 
thyme. 
In especially difficult situations the money¬ 
wort ( Lysimachia nummularia ) may be re¬ 
lied upon to cover the ground with its 
creeping stems and little yellow bells, but it 
must not be planted where it may become a 
pest. All of the above-mentioned plants 
are small and better adapted to a rocky 
bank than to the flower garden proper; 
though, used as edgings to the beds of the 
latter, they will start the season daintily. 
We may now divide the midsummer 
group of plants into two classes: those that 
look better in a wild garden or planted in¬ 
formally along the edges of the shrubbery, 
and the distinctly gardenesque flowers. Both 
groups are peculiarly adapted to seashore 
conditions. 
For grouping informally we must choose 
a few kinds that will be effective enough 
(Continued on page 68) 
