The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-03-26

uOuSes The dlIeT6nCe IS dI W SaS , 4IO- t1ced even though comparatively few people stop to analyz what 1t is that makes the attractive home attractive.
 Of course the most important fac tor in making the home attractive is the use of plants. No amount of ex- pensive material and fine workman ship can make the home which has no planting around it, really attract i've. The most modest house, how ever. where plants have been used with good taste, becomes attractive.
 Many people have the mistaken idea that success in beautifying the home place with plants varies in propOr~ ton to the amount of money spent. Nothing could be further from the truth. Any one contemplating plant Ing should keep in mind from the be- ginning that the object Is to attain a certain end-that of making the home more beautifuI-and not the setting
 out of Q big collection of plants. The most charming results are often ob- tained with the simplest arrange
 nents. The way in which the plants are used will make much more diff
 ference in determining the degree of satisfaction to be had from the plant ing than the amount of money spent.
 A very few dollars invested in plants, where good taste is used in arranging
 them, will transform the whole ap- pearance and general effect,
 Another commonly accepted mis-
 take is that much more skill and
 time are required to succeed with
 perennials than with the bedding
 plants and annuals which are so uni
 versally grown. There are dozens of
 perennials so hardy that they will
 succeed in the struggle for existence year after year without any attention
 on the part of the gardner. Given as
 much time and as much fertilizer
 every spring as would be required to
 prepare and set out q bed of tender
 plants or annuals, these perennials
 can be kept in excellent condition.
 Furth ermore perennials always add
 an atmosphere of permanence to the
 place which annual plants can never give. They are one of the attractive features of the place from the first days of spring, weeks before any an- uuals make 2, showing, until the last thing in the fall, weeks after most of the annuals are killed and bIackened by early frosts. No permanent home is complete without at least enough perenniaIs to give a fair assortment
 
 and fall.
 The biggest mistake likely to be made in the use of perennials is that l ofs ticking them out at random around 1 the place, instead of having a we'll | considered plan for planting. There l are certain general principles which should be observed even in the sim 1 plest planting on the smallest place. 1 And these general principles can be l followed by anyone who Is going to ] do any planting.
 The first of these general principles
 is to keep the central part of the | lawn, or the grounds, in front of the
 house open. Even if the space to be l planted is only Q city or a suburban l backyard, a much more attractive ! effect is to be obtained by keeping | the plants near the outer edges or 1 border of the space to be planted. 1 The second thing to keep in mind is 1 to put the plants in groups-in beds or borders of scattering them about singly. Of course a sin gle plant can be used here and there very effectively. But, as Is some l times done, to set the plants out in rows several feet apart in either di- rection over the entire lawn or yard, | is certainly the way not to do 1t. The first place to plan to use per ennfals is about the base of the house or in front of the veranda-for ''base planting as 1t is called. A long bed or ''border'' on either side of walk or driveway is another place where they can be used to ad- antage-especIa If the walk or drive is curved one. Where for any | reason it Is not desirable to have a bed of this kind next to the walk or drive the "border'' can be placed at i the side or at the back, of the lawn | or grounds. In this case a much more attractive effect is obtained by hav- | ing the ''border" regular or curved | in design instead of an entire straight 1 bed.
 ] Some of the Most Attractive Peren- 1 niaIs.
 Of course one of the first things to l consider in selecting perennials. | where the amount of time which can 1 be devoted to their care is limited, is 1 to get those which are perfectly hardy not only so far as withstanding l severe winters are concerned, but in withstandfng insects and diseases. Among the most hardy and satis- 1 factory perenniaIs for general pur- poses are the iris, peony, larkspur ond 1 foxglove, aqui1egia, Columbine, hardy chriysantemums, hardy asters, ane- l nones, phlox and Oriental poppies. The iris Is especially desirable be- | cause, in addition to its long flower ing season-where several different l types are used-the foliage is attract | i've throughout the year from the
 time the first green shoots appear, 1 until the last vegetation is killed in l the fall. The range of coIors Is re- l rnarkably varied and the flowers last
 we'll in water indoors.
 The peony is perhaps the most gor- geous of all the perennia1s, rivaling
 in delicate shapes of coloring the
 most beautiful roses and dominating
 the entire garden during its period of | bloom. The peony Is one of the best
 of perenniais to use where single
 plants are wanted, get by themselves
 The foxglove and 1arkspur (Digi-
 tails Delphiniun) bloom later than
 the above. They should. be kept in
 the background when planted witt 1 other perennials in 0 hardy border , because they grow taller than mos other things. Both are particularly