THE BEST PURPLE and LAVENDER FLOWERS 
For the Garden of Aloofness, the Garden of Shy Colors and Mystery 
—Eight Different Species and Some Other Suggestions 
GRACE TABOR 
I &STEAD of thinking altogether in terms 
of flowers and garden material, suppose 
we consider the color itself—purple, the color 
of mystery and shadows, of royalty and splen¬ 
dor and majesty, a color peculiarly suggestive 
to the imagination when the mind dwells upon 
its position in the spectrum. What comes next, 
that our eyes cannot see? What greater glory 
of light lies outside this last elusive ray? Is 
it any wonder that men have always held it 
in profound esteem, this highest color of all 
in the scale that is within our ken? 
A purple flower is of course just a purple 
flower, with nothing remarkable about it— 
that is, nothing any more 
remarkable than there is 
about all flowers. But if 
this broad conception of the 
color’s real splendor and 
significance is fixed in the 
mind, a purple flower be¬ 
comes full of wonderful 
potentialities; for then it 
assumes its rightful place 
as a bit of pigment with 
which it may be possible to 
create a garden masterpiece. 
There is, to be sure, 
always a risk in adopting 
a poetic fancy as a garden 
ideal, for such a fancy 
ceases to be poetic if the 
effort to adhere to it grows 
rigid. But some sort of 
ideal is essential, something 
to work to—and from. All 
real gardening must partake 
of the spirit of 
poesy. For such a 
fancy is more suit¬ 
able than any other, 
actually, providing 
it is not strained. 
Hold the poetic 
ideal, therefore, but 
look well to har¬ 
mony in the plant¬ 
ing, rather than to 
the exact execution 
of the elusive 
motif. The poetry 
will be expressed, 
never fear, if you 
do these things, 
and the garden 
will develop its 
own soul. 
to put it the other way: they are the colors 
that are distant. No matter how near you may 
bring them to the observer, they will convey 
a sense of remoteness and separation. They 
are what I may perhaps call shy colors. 
This is naturally going to have a great 
influence on the effect of a garden planted 
entirely in these shades; and this effect must 
be reckoned with in designing such a garden. 
Everything about it will emphasize remoteness, 
aloofness, mystery, if it is well conceived. 
For these colors are also the shades of twi¬ 
light and the sunset hour, and shadows 
everywhere at all times. No other thought can 
be associated with them. 
No other thought ought 
therefore to intrude in such 
a garden. So, in the very 
beginning, we see that it 
must be remote—not adja¬ 
cent to living rooms, nor to 
casual observance, but quite 
hidden and unsuspected, 
somewhere apart from all 
the rest. It is not a com¬ 
mon garden, if you please, 
but a gem; not a garden for 
all the day and every day, 
but for special times and 
visits—just as special con¬ 
ditions of atmosphere and 
sunlight and distance and 
Some of the asters grow 
shoulder high. Those 
known as Michaelmas 
daisies are especially 
good for autumn color 
all are required to “purple” all the earth. 
A garden may be all that seems remote, 
without actually being far distant from the 
dwelling; and it does not take a vast estate 
to compass this effect. Modest domains may 
accomplish it quite as well as any other, 
through “planting in” and “planting out” 
judiciously. 
Each particular place will present its own 
problem, as always; so that I can do no more 
here than suggest the character of the work 
to be done, rather than particularize. Secure 
seclusion and an effect of remoteness for the 
site of a purple garden, first of all. Then 
adapt design to such space as may be thus 
secluded and set apart. 
In Nature’s lavish use of purple, the shades 
that are nearest the observer are brighter and 
clearer than those that are at a distance. The 
landscape grows pale as it recedes, until the 
horizon is a misty lavender or mauve. Apply 
this principle to the purple garden. Use in 
the foreground the more vivid and positive 
shades. Put the lighter hues beyond; and 
beyond these, those that are lighter still. Even 
a small space will seem to be more than it 
actually is, under such treatment—especially 
if it has distance one way. 
The Proportions of a Purple Garden 
For some reason that I will not venture 
here to attempt to analyze, a plot consider¬ 
ably longer than it is wide lends itself to this 
idea better than a square plot. Probably it 
is because a long and narrow plot does not 
lie spread out before the observer to such an 
extent as the square; it is possible to empha¬ 
size the length just 
because it is not 
relatively wide. 
So in setting apart 
the area which is to 
be devoted to this 
garden, plan to have 
it at least three times 
as long as wide. If it 
is a very small plot, 
once you have it thus 
defined, carry the 
design altogether 
( Cont. on page 70) 
Color and Distance 
In the practical 
considerations that 
are immediately 
before the designer 
of a garden, spe¬ 
cial stress is to be 
laid on this: pur¬ 
ple and all its as¬ 
sociated hues and 
shades are the col¬ 
ors of distance. Or 
s effects possible with iris are many 
varied. Among the truly purple 
's are Black Prince, two Japanese 
arieties. and Iris pumila cyanea 
Scabiosas bloom from June to Septem¬ 
ber. The variety S. caucasia is a soft 
shade of lavender, while S. japonica has 
flowers rather more inclined to blue 
