54 
House 
Garden 
& 
THE GARDEN of YELLOW and DEEP MAROON 
An All-season Planting Plan Which Gives Life to the Garden Color 
Scheme While Retaining Softness in the General Tone 
ELIZABETH LEONARD STRANG 
I F white is the peacemaker of the gar¬ 
den, yellow would seem to be the life 
of it. The deep golden tones, by their 
very intensity, seem to be in larger quan¬ 
tities than they really are. Accordingly, 
in the garden of various colors they con¬ 
tribute most to the general effect when they 
are used as accents or, as it were, exclama¬ 
tion points. 
At certain seasons, however, we do not 
object to an entire garden of vivid gold. 
In spring a garden of crocus, forsythia and 
daffodils forms a gorgeous though transi¬ 
tory picture; and in the autumn, when 
sombre tones predominate in the land¬ 
scape, great masses of heleniums or chry¬ 
santhemums create an instant response in 
the beholder. In midsummer the eye 
wearies of hot, intense colors, and yellow 
should then be subordinated. 
There is a type of yellow garden which 
I shall describe in this article that could, 
consistently and agreeably, be carried out 
for the entire season. It is composed of 
pale primrose-yellow and cream-white, 
and is selected with the greatest care lest 
too strong a note obtrude on the softness 
of the general tone. To avoid weakness 
or insipidity I have added a dash of the 
darkest red imaginable—a velvety black 
maroon with no hint of crimson or royal 
purple. Certain gladioli, notably Shakespeare, aptly 
illustrate the combination of trees. 
The General Effect 
By its very nature the color scheme suggests great 
breadth of treatment in the arrangement of the flowers 
in large and effective masses. This effect is achieved 
by the comparative shortness of the list and the frank, 
simple design of the garden, which admirably lends 
itself to well-balanced masses of bloom. A cheerful 
warmth is its dominant characteristic; an effect ac¬ 
centuated by the dark brown garden house, the russet 
paths of tan bark or gravel, the rich green of the 
high encircling hemlock hedge and the dwarf box 
which frames the beds. Outside the hedge are masses 
of shrubs whose effect 
is that of light and 
grace itself. 
The year begins in 
February with Japa¬ 
nese witch-hazel; in 
March this is followed 
by sprays of spice 
bush, Cornus mas in 
April, and in late au¬ 
tumn by the native 
witch-hazel. All of 
these have delicate 
blossoms of light yel¬ 
low, which in May be¬ 
comes very striking 
with the aid of labur¬ 
num or golden chain. 
With a certain per¬ 
centage of white—for 
instance, in April the 
Magnolia stellata, the 
fringe-like creamy yel¬ 
low wood and the 
white fringe-tree in 
late spring—we evolve 
a contrasting back¬ 
ground for the whole. 
Inside the hedge 
certain shrubs and 
roses pay royal trib¬ 
ute. At the outer cor¬ 
ners are strong masses 
of strawberry shrub 
whose cinnamon- 
scented brown flowers 
are an effective foil to 
the snowy white cas¬ 
cades of Spiraea Van 
Houttei. All the en¬ 
trances are sentinelled 
with Harrison’s yel¬ 
low rose, an old-fash¬ 
ioned favorite which 
On the coping of the pool are pots of 
standard azalea Anthony Foster, which is 
of a rich pastel yellow. These would of 
course be forced in the greenhouse and 
placed in the garden, where for a time in 
early summer their reflection in the pool 
adds a vivid touch which is soon super¬ 
seded by bold splashes of the mahogany- 
colored oriental poppy. The remainder 
of the planting in the immediate vicinity 
of the pool is low and of an irregular dis¬ 
position; little clumps of primroses and 
alyssum Silver Queen, interspersed by pale 
daffodils, and these in turn accented 
by a very few blood-red early tulips. 
Somewhat later comes the graceful Darwin 
tulip Moonlight, whose slender egg-shaped 
cups of luminous yellow give ample reason 
for its name. In early summer and in 
conformity with the planting on the outer 
edge of the circle, appear irregular clumps 
of lemon and garnet snapdragons, ac¬ 
cented by the stalks of a cream-colored 
and dark red gladiolus which harmonize 
perfectly with them. 
The earliest effects, in addition to the 
shrubs on the outside, are obtained by 
borders of dull yellow hyacinths and dark 
red wallflowers, which outline the outer 
walks; while white trumpet and Leedsii 
narcissi of the palest imaginable yellow 
lead in long slender lines down the edges of the cross 
walks, focusing in bold clumps around the coping of 
the pool. Of these, Mrs. Langtry at $1.50 per hundred, 
Mrs. Thompson at $3.75, and Katherine Spurrel at 
34.20 are the least expensive, the others ranging from 
the latter figure to $14. 
Early and late tulips of dark red and pale yellow 
are planted in a broad band next to the central circle 
of box, and in front of the polyantha roses. The 
ground beneath them is carpeted with pale yellow 
English primroses—a flower which is most effective 
in mass. These with the tulips may be removed to 
make room for the snapdragons and gladioli, or the 
latter may be inserted between them with a less luxuri¬ 
ant effect. The tulips may be dried out, the primulas 
transplanted in a re¬ 
serve garden, and 
both replanted in the 
early fall so they will 
be ready for another 
season’s flowering. 
Other tulips are 
planted in clumps 
throughout the garden 
where there is room 
for them, but especial¬ 
ly in front of the roses 
and peonies. Of these 
Moonlight at $7.50 
per hundred andFlava 
at $12 are the only 
expensive ones, the 
others averaging 
about $4.50. 
For Later Bloom 
German iris of the 
palest straw color in 
well balanced clumps 
still further accentu¬ 
ates the circle, and is 
distributed in bold 
masses throughout the 
garden. As minor ac¬ 
cents on all the cor¬ 
ners is placed Alys¬ 
sum saxatile Silver 
Queen, a pale yellow 
variety, far more 
agreeable to the eye 
than the blatant dan¬ 
delion yellow of the 
type so commonly 
used in edgings. 
Of the peonies, 
which are in bloom 
with the yellow iris, 
(Continued on page 
68 ) 
In August the picture is filled with golden anthemis, daisy- 
like and carefully distributed for the greatest effectiveness 
in color masses 
in early June is literally a shower of fragrant semi¬ 
double blooms of a clear sulphur yellow; while 
grouped in front of them are some dark red varieties, 
mentioned in the list. 
The arbor is covered with yellow climbing roses 
and the marvellous tracery of the five-fingered akebia 
with its oddly shaped chocolate colored flowers, and 
in September by Clematis panticulata, a mass of 
creamy white. Here too are a succession and variety 
of bloom that far surpass the usual arrangements of 
only one climber. 
The large circle is outlined by a low hedge of cop¬ 
pery yellow dwarf or polyantha roses, which bloom 
from June until frost. The four large beds are ac¬ 
cented by the golden tassels of the standard laburnum. 
Yellow iris is at its best in May, when it contrasts pleasingly with the dark green of the box 
edgings. Here again the value of massing certain things is seen 
