60 
House & Garden 
The stately beauty of the delphiniums shows to perfection against the tree background in Mr. Galsworthy’s garden in Surrey, Eng¬ 
land. Among them are many of the tall hybrid varieties, their spires rising well above the broad masses of the herbaceous border, 
fitting accents in the garden picture 
HYBRID DELPHINIUMS IN AN ENGLISH GARDEN 
Their Selection, Care and Place in the Garden Picture—Some Notes on Culture 
Which Are of Interest to Flower Lovers Everywhere 
I N the warm summer days when the 
garden smiles with joyous color and on 
every hand the flowers are competing 
with each other to attract the bees that are 
working from dawn till dark, it is pleasant to 
sit, as is my custom, and paint the blooms 
growing and sparkling in the sunlight. There 
are few flowers in my garden that have not had 
their portraits taken at some time or other. 
I think this is the best way to learn their 
characteristics and their beauty, and certain¬ 
ly the best way for a student to become skilful 
in flower painting. The lights and shades are 
so constantly on the move with every breath 
of air that it requires greater effort to get their 
shapes, colors and shadows into the mind, 
after which it will be a comparatively easy task 
to'make a picture of a bunch of cut flowers in 
a vase standing in the still and unchangeable 
light of an ordinary room or studio. 
One day I was out-of-doors painting a rath¬ 
er fine spike of a very blue delphinium called 
Florence, long since discarded in nurserymen’s 
catalogs for better varieties. I had done about 
half of it and was wondering whether I should 
have the perseverance to continue the almost 
monotonous repetition of the same shape until 
I arrived at the bottom of the spike, when I 
FRANK GALSWORTHY 
One of the most pleasing of Mr. Galsworthy’s 
flower paintings is a group of delphinium 
trusses, violet, heliotrope, and blue 
was suddenly aware of a great to-do and com¬ 
motion around me, and a fat bumble bee flew 
upon my painting, there alighted and wandered 
about with some noise and, I suppose, dis¬ 
appointment. 
Of course this pleased me tremendously, for 
I felt sure at the time that the bee was paying 
me a great compliment, and that the painting 
must be good in order so to deceive it. But I 
know better now, or am more modest, for I 
have found out that any bright color is very 
alluring to bumble bees, and it was the color, 
not the skilful deception that had attracted it. 
I caught that bee under my hat and procured a 
glass in which it was made prisoner until I 
had painted its portrait hovering in the air 
by the side of the blue flowers. 
The pleasing recollection of this incident, 
one among many pleasant happenings which 
frequently occur to those who quietly study 
nature, has left an undying affection in my 
heart for these beautiful larkspurs, and I grow 
them not only for myself but for the apprecia¬ 
tive bees. 
There are many species of delphinium, most 
of which are grown only by gardeners who in¬ 
terest themselves in rare plants, but the most 
(Continued on page 74) 
