Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-02-12
Color In Gardens.

Within few years this taste for BRIGHT COL
OTIS in plants has reached American, and the
Centennial grounds showed our people what
could be done with masses Of coieus, geran-
lums arlndOS, cannaS, and other high cOiered
plants.
Yet even these, beautiful as they are In the,r
prime. cause for half the summer a colorless
disagreeable blot On the lawn. Planted ia
june they rarely cover the ground until Au.
gust. and for The intervening time the bed IN
which they are planted Is a mass OF almost
naked EARTH Before the middle OF October
they sufcumb TO the frost, and then for eight
months more they do nothing to hide the bare
earth In which they are planted. Eight months
of ugliness Is too high price to pay for two
months OF beauty. Yet these bedding plants
have become the fashion, and fashion is un-
compromising In its demands. The gardeners
cause they bring a good price and are easily
propagated. Thus the continued use OF exotic
plants for bedding is likely TO Increase rather
than diminish unless the taste Is subjected TO
rigorous criticism. The only remedy is for men
and women OF true taste TO insist OF better
example upon their own premises and among
color, put should persistently demand from
their gardeners permanent plants of Color,
which would be beautiful tor q large part or for
the whole OF the year.
Few things are finer than bed or border OF
IVY contrasted with boarder OF the dwarf
EconurnnS rddicdns. Then there Is sort of
Ivy with white and green varlegation. and the
periwfnkie, with its pale blue flowers browning
dark evergreen leaves. The golden yew and
the procumbent yew. both evergreens, one with
r1ch dark FOLIAGE and the other With q lustre
OF FURNISHED gold, can be planted with masses,
and kept down to six or twelve inches. They
can also be pruned into globes, ovals, pyramids,
columns, or any desired form. The BQta ele-
summer. and the RetibospOr0 aure0, with
golden foliage all the year, can be treated In
tn the same way: Then there is varIegated
green fountain tipped With gold, which can
serve as center for dat bed The Retfnosl,5rd
ubthS0 mana makes a low mass OF tutJed green
OF great beauty. Tl,'go reruanaeana o,p'er is
another mass OF gold and green. The evergreen
morn can be pit low for bedding, as can also
the glossy rich BROAD teayed NohOnta 0quifo!ia.
Picea hrdSontcd makes blue-tinted mass, and
the common hemlock, with It's white-ti tipped
variety, can be kept low In bed with as
smooth surface as on hedge. The A2dlea
oL0T4o, with its dark foliage and brilliant
passed In the fragrance OF its flowers, and
both hardy, make most exquisite beds. The
C"'0n"dStet n'tl'Ophpiio would also be very eff
fcct!ve. Those have named are evergreens
put there are many deciduous plants which can
be USED In the same way. The purple. leaved
hazel and the purple berberry are almost as
dark az purple beech. The Japan ounce can
would surpass any coleus The new varieties
OF clematis-jdcknanti and others-with their
UNITS or blue, crimson, and white, would be SIM
ply superb. And then come the grand flowers,
faWn and orange, OF the Bign0nia grandiHor0,
blooming freely for many weeks. In truth, all
the vines can be treated as bedding plants, If
the knife be judciousiy used. think that one
OF the most striking things l have seen was a
common hOneysuckle grown In fiat bed, the
edges neatly trimmed, and the whole surface
covered with flowers. | saw another honey
suckle trained to stake four feet high, and
then allowed to fall over, making mound four
feet high and five feet in diameter. Few know
the capabilities OF climbing plants for great
variety OF form-for fiat beds, for mounds, for
columns, for arches, for corntces, for sides of
buildings, or for any other form that taste can
devise.
have applied my remarks to Tat beds, In
With leaves and flowers Of high color could
very properly take the place Of the present
Fashionable masses Of coleus, ,geraneums. etc.
] would by no means limit the use OF these
and these masses could be made to assume va
rious shapes and heights. Even in the foliage
OF large trees there is sufficient variety of tint
TO make lawn seem like large pictures. b.
PtHSOES. IN AIrIerlS MGad zine flf. N1rch