AN ARTISTIC FOUNTAIN PARTICULARLY WELL PLACED
Occasionally, we come across an iron fountain painted black or red. This metal is cheap and stock designs can be purchased, but the very best ones are private orders and can never be reproduced. The price varies as with every other bit of garden furniture from a few dollars up to as many thousands. The advantage of this metal is that it fits into places where marble should be avoided.
Pottery fountains have been used within the last few years, and many of them are very graceful, being turned and finished by hand. This type has a special mission in our garden, its proper placing being in New England where the gray rocks, hedges and evergreen predominate. This material is shown in more colors than almost any other. These include gray, brown, green, blue, and many shades of terra cotta. This variation of color makes it adapted to almost any situation. One advantage in their use is that, strongly reinforced as they are by galvanized steel wires, they are climate-proof and practically indestructible.
The location of this special garden ornament demands serious attention. It is often placed where it will attract attention to some special feature that has been carefully worked out in detail. More especially is this true when it has been inserted as a part of the retaining wall and is surrounded by some choice vine whose flowers accentuate the architecture.
There are so many forms and features connected with this special garden ornament that there need never be any sameness. It is an ideal medium with which to recreate the fauns, satyrs and nymphs of the garden. Animals, too, are often used and so are cupids.
The planting, which is of as much importance as the ornamentation, depends upon the size of the pool and its location. Shade requires far different treatment from sunny exposures, while the heart of a grass plot lends itself to little or no floral embellishment. The finish of the pool influences the arrangement of the flowers. Should it be very ornamental, the planting should be far enough away not to shut off its picture effect in the landscape. If it is simply a curbing, it should have a setting of green or of low-growing plants.
Often an effective treatment is worked out through a border of velvety turf outlined by plants. Peonies never fail to bring out the right coloring of the fountain, that is if they are far enough away not to cut off the design. They are called rightly the aristocrats of the flower garden. For mass planting, they are most effective, their great gorgeous blossoms, daintily dyed and ranging from white to the deepest red, their wonderful fragrance and their decorative value are unsurpassed. They can either be planted in solid color or in a combination that is artistic. The Couronne d'Or, beautiful white in coloring and showing blossoms of red in the center with a halo of yellow around, makes a picturesque contrast to the deep green of the tree leaves. The large, double, ball-shape bloom of the Felix Crousse intermixed with white, gives one of the most fascinating combinations of red and white. The beauty of peonies is that they grow anywhere although they do best in rich, deep soil and with a sunny exposure. They are perfectly hardy, require no protection and unlike most other plants are not infested by either insects or disease. All they ask for is plenty of water during their growing season.