PLANNING a GARDEN of TRUE 
General Principles of Color Variations, Contrasts and Harmonies Applied 
to a Definite Planting Scheme-Tke Best Sorts and Where to Place Them 
BLUE 
From early July until October the showy, 
light blue bells of the platycodons are one of 
the garden’s real sights 
are good for secondary 
positions 
The mertensia, or Virginia cowslip, blooms in 
late April and May. It is light blue, with 
luxuriant gray-green foliage 
ELIZABETH LEONARD STRANG 
T O be effective the flowers for a blue gar 
den must be of a true blue color, entirely 
free from tones verging on lavender and violet 
Inasmuch as blue is a receding color more of 
it must be used than is necessary m the case 
of strong, advancing colors like scarlet an 
yellow, and the effect will be weak unless 
employed in masses sufficiently large to over¬ 
come this tendency. . 
Because a garden of one color is always 
uninteresting, there should be 
added to the blue at each season 
a little deep, royal purple of a 
shade that reveals no hint of red 
or magenta, and whose velvety 
richness almost equals the con¬ 
trast value of black. Such a 
purple combined with puie sky 
blue achieves dazzling results. 
To intensify the blue in the fore¬ 
going contrast, introduce some 
pale yellow and creamy white. 
The deeper the blue, the more 
intense the yellow—in fact even 
orange can be used if judgment 
is exercised in the quantity em¬ 
ployed, because a small patch of 
deep color strikes the eye with a 
force equivalent to that conveyed 
by a much larger patch of a 
somewhat paler tint. 
Accordingly, the pale blue of 
anchusa or flax looks best with 
the straw color of Iris flavescens, 
and the deep cobalt of Veronica 
with the intense orange of the 
California poppy. It is neces¬ 
sary to bear in mind, however, 
that these contrasting tones must 
at all times be kept strictly sub¬ 
ordinate to the blue. 
In making the plan it is im¬ 
possible to forecast the result to A 
a nicety; but if the contrast proves 
too strong when the garden is in 
bloom it is easy to reduce the tone 
by sufficient blossoms to secure 
the proper effect. 
Tracing the evolution of the foregoing prin 
ciples throughout the season; noting which 
flowers appear best, those which lag those 
which keep pace with and those which defeat 
the plan, is deeply interesting and profitable. 
A successful working out of the. scheme calls 
for a study of flowers which will stand you 
in good stead. . 
At each season there must be a dominance ot 
blue secured by the selection of the best species 
in that color due at that particular time; also, 
corresponding accents of contrasting color. 
The placing of these flowers must be care¬ 
fully considered with relation to the design of 
the garden as a whole. No part of the garden 
should be bare or lacking in bloom at any 
particular turning point during the season; 
therefore, a careful distribution of the flowers 
for each period, early and late in one bed, 
becomes absolutely necessary. The accents are, 
of course, placed at the garden’s 
focal points. For instance: The 
yellows and purples show strong¬ 
est around the pool, are only a 
little less striking on either side 
of the entrance steps, are more 
subordinated on the center walk, 
and appear only in a minor part 
of the sqheme at the less impor¬ 
tant points,- 
Aside from the arrangement re¬ 
lated to design, it is well to keep 
in mind the heights of the flowers 
as affecting their positions in the 
beds. In general, low plants are 
placed toward the front and tall 
ones form a frame or background; 
but in order to escape from the 
effect of stiffness a certain amount 
of artless deviation is allowable. 
Then the forms of the plants 
themselves suggest certain group¬ 
ings. For example: spikes of 
gladioli beside soft masses of 
gypsophila; larkspur in large, 
round masses in the centers of 
the beds where they may domi¬ 
nate during their period of 
bloom; asters around the bound¬ 
aries where they may grow in¬ 
conspicuously in the fore and 
mid parts of the season, to spring 
(Continued on page 58) 
The larkspurs, in a wide 
variety of blues, supply a 
dominating note during June, 
and well on into July 
