No. 13.—Border, red alternanthera; second row, dwarf orange or yellow nasturtium; third row, Achyranthes Gilsoni, or Acalypha tricolor; central square, scarlet geraniums, with a border of Centaurea gymnocarpa; intervening spaces, grass. Instead of the square of geraniums, a vase might be substituted, or a clump of Salvia splendens.
No. 14.—Composite beds like this and the former are always suggestive. They contain various features which may readily be recombined into other patterns. Sometimes it may be convenient to use only portions of the design. The reader should feel that no arrangement is arbitrary, but merely a suggestion that he may use with the utmost freedom, only keeping harmony in view. For No. 14, the following may be an acceptable planting arrangement: Border, Mme. Salleroi geranium; small dots, dwarf scarlet tropeolum; diamonds, blue lobelia; crescents, Stevia serrata variegata; inner border, crimson achyranthes or coleus; loops, Centaurea gymnocarpa; wedge-shaped portions, scarlet geranium.
No. 15.—Suitable for a corner. Border, red alternanthera; second row, Alternanthera aurea nana; third row, red alternanthera; center, Echeveria Californica.
No. 16—Border, crimson alternanthera (another border of yellow alternanthera might be placed inside of this); ground, Echeveria secunda glauca; inner border, Oxalis tropæoloides; center, Alternanthera aurea nana. Or, inner border, Echeveria Californica; center, crimson alternanthera.
No. 17.—Another bed intended to fill an angle. Its curved side will also fit it for use with a circular design. Border, dwarf blue ageratum; circle, blue lobelia; ground (3 parts), crimson alternanthera.
Other carpet or mosaic beds (after Long), with the plants indicated, are shown in Figs. 241, 242.
The annual flowers of the seedsmen are those that give their best bloom in the very year in which the seeds are sown. True annuals are those plants that complete their entire life-cycle in one season. Some of the so-called annual flowers will continue to bloom the second and third years, but the bloom is so poor and sparse after the first season that it does not pay to keep them. Some perennials may be treated as annuals by starting the seeds early; Chinese pink, pansy and snapdragon are examples.