26 
House & Garden 
THE FLOWER GARDEN of LAVENDER, ORANGE and GRAY 
Wherein the Heat-Suggesting Yellows are Eliminated and Their Places Filled by Cooler Colors 
That Tempt One to Forget the Oppressiveness of Summer 
ELIZABETH LEONARD STRANG 
I N working out color effects for 
herbaceous planting, yellow calls 
for special treatment because of its 
various tones. The task, however, is 
one of elimination rather than assem¬ 
blage. For instance, we confine bright 
yellows to early spring and late fall; 
in large quantities in the former sea¬ 
sons, and as mere splashes and accents 
in the latter. Suggestive of intense 
heat and therefore wearying to the eye, 
they are entirely impossible in mid¬ 
summer. 
One color scheme for yellow which 
was described in House & Garden 
for October, 1917, comprises tints 
of palest cream color and sulphur, 
strengthened and accented by maroon; 
a combination effectively illustrated 
in the blooms of certain gladioli. 
This triumvirate suggests a square or 
rectangular garden, designed to set 
off to best advantage the large, well- 
balanced masses of color. 
A more graphic design and one that 
suggests long vistas with unexpected 
flashes of brilliant color is secured by 
such an orange-red as seen in the 
Oriental poppy, the royal purple of 
iris, and relieved by nebulous clouds 
of pale blue and gray forget-me-nots, 
sea lavender and gypsophila. 
Such a garden is shown in the plan. 
From the simple grass terrace in front 
of the long French windows of the 
living room, we descend by a flight 
of broad fieldstone steps to the turf 
panel, thence by another series of similar steps 
to the rectangular garden below. The latter 
has narrow walks of irregular gray stone edged 
with creeping plants, and ornamented by a 
simple stone seat and sundial. 
The entire design is enclosed by a high 
clipped hedge of Hippophse or sea buckthorn, 
an excellent hedge plant. Its leaves are a 
silver gray, its orange-colored fruit a fine con¬ 
tribution to autumn. On the whole it is a 
very desirable background for such a color 
scheme. 
The ends of the long border are shut off 
by loose though graceful masses of rosemary¬ 
leaved willow, the silver gray of whose long, 
narrow leaves blends becomingly with the 
hedge. Behind the latter are some tall royal 
willows and bushes of lavender lilac, which 
make a frame for the weathered stone seat, 
and a delightful termination to the vista as 
viewed from the terrace. 
The Seasonal Effects 
Season by season the effects are as follows: 
In early spring the grass terrace is bright 
with hundreds of deep purple and saffron 
crocus, lightened by scattered blue-lavender 
hyacinths. Simultaneously the stately crown 
imperial—of deepest orange color—with hya¬ 
cinths of deep purple and light blue, make a 
climax around the sundial at the far end of 
the garden. 
Somewhat later the long walk is gay with 
scattered groups of orange-colored early tulips, 
The lavender blue of Iris pallida combines 
splendidly with the pastel shade of the wistaria 
blossoms and the orange of trollius 
which rise above beds of gray and white 
arabis, blue forget-me-nots and lavender creep¬ 
ing phlox. Those varieties nearest to a pure 
orange are selected, which, though varying 
individually, make a harmonious effect in 
mass form. 
In general the long border has more of the 
lighter colors; pale blue, lavender, gray and 
orange, reserving the deep contrasting purple 
and violet tones for a climax in the garden, 
where much more gray is used as a foil. 
After the early tulips, the long walk is fea¬ 
tured by silky Iceland poppies of an intense 
orange color, their slender stems nodding above 
the border plants which now show additional 
bloom from the lavender-blue wild phlox and 
the Greek valerian. 
In the background are Oriental poppies of 
a deep orange scarlet, and the stately lavender- 
blue flowers and pale gray leaves of the Iris 
pallida. The early tulips along the edge are 
now being replaced in the picture by groups 
of late lavender tulips with a very few of 
orange-scarlet, old rose, dull yellow and buff. 
The climax of gorgeous coloring is attained 
by the flame azaleas which frame the seat, 
accented by pots of standard purple wistarias 
at the ends. Other azaleas flank the entrances, 
while the center of the garden shows the violet 
and purple tones of German iris contrasted 
with orange wallflowers. More late tulips, 
with orange-colored ones predominat¬ 
ing, outline the walks in scattered 
groups. In the border next the hedge 
are flaming torches of Oriental poppy 
and pale Iris pallida. 
The gray-leaved plants which edge 
the walks are the aromatic Artemisia, 
or Old Woman, for dense tufts of 
foliage on the corners; low-growing 
stellaria with starry white flowers; 
cerastium, a carpet of brilliant white 
coming after the late tulips are gone; 
Veronica incana, whose flowers of dull 
violet look well beneath the Oriental 
poppy, and many others, all with gray 
leaves and purple or white flowers. 
Summer Colors 
In late June long lines of vivid 
orange-red lilies enliven the border 
and are repeated in the garden, where 
their color is supplemented by great 
masses of orange butterfly weed. The 
latter linger well into July, and are 
accompanied by the effective lavender 
and deep purple blossoms of Japanese 
iris. 
This brings us to the season of 
phloxes, which lasts from early July 
until September. The garden at the 
end is rendered intensely vivid by the 
deep metallic purple of the Blue Hill, 
with Crepuscule, a phlox of pale gray¬ 
ish lavender having a deep purple 
eve, and Eugene Danzanvillier, lilac 
shading to white at the edges. These 
are accented by steely blue spikes of 
sea holly and the gray heads of globe thistle. 
The oval is outlined by purple spikes of the 
gladiolus Baron Hulot, planted in May for 
bloom at this time, and by groups of tall 
orange-colored tiger lilies which spring up in 
the place of the crown imperials. Around the 
edge are more tiger lilies, and the tall gray 
foliage of the Salvia azurea, with its small 
flowers of pale blue. Here and there through¬ 
out the garden cloudy masses of sea lavender 
offer an appropriate contrast of form and 
texture. 
In the border at this time are many soft 
masses of gypsophila, behind which nod ranks 
of tiger lilies, with lavender phlox for flat 
tones, and sea holly for accent. 
In early September the border displays its 
most striking effect of the year: tall tropical 
looking spikes of orange tritomas backed by 
the tall New England aster of royal purple. 
Large groups of these accent the ends, stand¬ 
ing out against the silvery willows, while along 
the sides small-flowered asters of grayish lav¬ 
ender droop with a misty effect. 
Near the rosemary willow are two other 
shrubs of special interest for fall; the tasselled 
buddleias, deep purple-lilac with a hint of 
orange in the centre, set off by long gray- 
green leaves; and the chaste-tree (Vitex agnus- 
castus) with spikes of pale lilac flowers lasting 
from July until September, and star-shaped 
aromatic leaves of gray. At the feet of these 
shrubs are the lavender blossoms of the autumn 
crocus, springing from the bare earth. 
