Hollyhocks must have a place in every border. Their stately habit, profusion of bloom, wonderful range and richness of color, and long-continued flowering period make them indispensable and favorites everywhere. They are most effective when grown in large masses or groups. If they are prevented from ripening seed, they will bloom throughout the greater part of the season. The single varieties are of the tallest, stateliest growth, therefore admirably adapted to back rows in the border. The double kinds work in well in front of them. These are the showiest members of the family because their flowers are so thickly set along the stalk that a stronger color-effect is given, but they are really no finer than the single sorts, so far as general effect is concerned. Indeed, I think I prefer the single kinds because the rich and peculiar markings of the individual flower show to much better advantage in them than in the doubles, whose multiplicity of petals hides this very pleasing variegation. But I would not care to go without either kind.
OLD-FASHIONED HOLLYHOCKS
Coreopsis lanceolata is a very charming plant for front rows, especially if it can have a place where it is given the benefit of contrast with a white flower, like the Daisy. In such a location its rich golden yellow comes out brilliantly, and makes a most effective point of color in the border.
Perennial Phlox, all things considered, deserves a place very near to the head of the list of our very best hardy plants. Perhaps if a vote were taken, it would be elected as leader of its class in point of merit. It is so entirely hardy, so sturdy and self-reliant, so wonderfully floriferous, and so rich and varied in color that it is almost an ideal plant for border-use. It varies greatly in habit. Some varieties attain a height of five feet or more. Others are low growers,—almost dwarfs, in fact,—therefore well adapted to places in the very front row, and close to the path. The majority are of medium habit, fitting into the middle rows most effectively. With a little care in the selection of varieties—depending on the florists' catalogues to give us the height of each—it is an easy matter to arrange the various sorts in such a way as to form a bank which will be an almost solid mass of flowers for weeks. Some varieties have flowers of the purest white, and the colors of others range through many shades of pink, carmine, scarlet, and crimson, to lilac, mauve, and magenta. The three colors last named must never be planted alongside or near to the other colors, with the exception of white, as there can be no harmony between them. They make a color-discord so intense as to be positively painful to the eye that has keen color-sense. But combine them with the white kinds and they are among the loveliest of the lot. This Phlox ought always to be grouped, to be most effective, and white varieties should be used liberally to serve as a foil to the more brilliant colors and bring out their beauty most strikingly.
THE PEONY AT ITS BEST
Peonies are superb flowers, and no border can afford to be without them. The varieties are almost endless, but you cannot have too many of them. Use them everywhere. The chances are that you will wish you had room for more. They bloom early, are magnificent in color and form, and are so prolific that old plants often bear a hundred or more flowers each season, and their profusion of bloom increases with age, as the plant gains in size. Many varieties are as fragrant as a Rose, and all of them are as hardy as a plant can well be. What more need be said in their favor?