Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-05-26
Flowers and the Flower Garden.

FF"M country L.fe, W IL. ". t~"let""".I
May. We are growing tired of the green
house, full though it may be, with flowers,
b light and fragrant. Every time that We
enter it, the approach of real, out-ofdoor
spring. the blossoming trees and wild-tiowers
have paled its beauty it looks to us too much
like IL ballroom after a party is over, and we
really wonder how it could have given Us 80
much pleasure during the winter. we are all
impotence To get the flowers out OF doors
and look ut the thermometer and the sky ma
ny times II day, To see if the weather Is not
mild enough.
Flowers are naturally simple and retiring:
they rarely intrude on the notice of man; they
bend over the brooks, lending and receiving
beauty by the reflection: they peep out of
the grass, they fringe the roadsides, and
their masses of bright color contrast with the
gray stones and dark foliage about them;
but they never insist on being noticed, they
are always subordinate to leaves and branch
es and stems, and those that give the best
and most enduring pleasures. combine mod
cSty of appearance with beauty OF color and
d~elicncy Of fragrance. The posseSsor Ola
bed of such flowers, however simple and
familiar, If they are perfect OF their KIND.
and well-cared for. need not envy the owner
of the widest and most expensive tiower-gard-
ems of England.
| shall give, in Il few pages, Il list OF plants
which will grow and blossom ut different sea-
sons. and the sizes and colors being given, you
can easily choose such rs will produce the ef-
feet desired. But To get effects of color, y"u
must plant Il large mass of the same kind, or
color, together, otherwise only n thin, meagre,
aud spotty result will be obtained. Elabor-
ate plaus Of coloring in hower-beds most fail;
and vet. in arranging flowers. We should
always he guided by a regard Ia the relative
position which their colorS occupy in most
harmonious combinations, So that they may,
when in perfection, resemble Il well-arrang-
ed bouquet, or dish of flowers. BY familiar
observation of their colors III beds, both the eye
aud the taste may hr cultivated till we learn
to love and appreciate color, and instructive
". ~ it were, how to combine with the plea
stantest effect. \ bouquet or dish of flowers
so arranged that all their cOiorS show 10 the
best advantage. is seldom seen. Flowers are
too often mixed contusedly, So that there iSno
distinct character obtained, and the eye getsno
healthy excitement. Arrange your flowers al
ways SO that one decided color shall predomin-
uli III lll' w Wv Ntil'l titNb Nv "a WIN
particular place. Then contrast with the
principle mass of color, those colors best
calculated to relieve and show it TO advan-
tayc. Do not entirely disconnect the main
mass from the same color in other parts, but
by a single flower of the same, or Il similar
hue, carry the eye along to other parts
where the dominant color is again to be- seen.
The habit of heaping colored flowers one
upon an other, and putting nothing else in
the dish, arises, ] think, partly from the
wan of d~elicacv Of taste, and partly from
taking ~ IA standard of color the spectrum
or pictures. where other things. n light and
shade. atmosphere, etc., come i'll to blend
and tone the whole.
To return to the colors Of the garden. As
| have said, arrange your plants according to
Il w~ell-digested system of colors, but remem-
Der that unity of effect and harmony is al
most impossible from all points, or for Il
length of time. My ho~wer-garden, if ! have
in it all the varieties | want, if | work over
it for weeks. cultiyating. pruning, tying up,
and watching it, during all that time, may
give me the precise effect | have described
and looked for, yes longed for, for months; but
it will probably only be for one day, or even
for a part of Il day, and never again during
the wear; and if | can get that perfect effect
for those few moments, | shall be certainly
satisfied and repaid, and regardless of com
ment from those too dull to appreciate or too
critical to admire. | shall be cOntcn, to work
another season, just rs long, for the same
few moments pleasure.