Grandmother's flowers, which are so fashionable to-day, are particularly desirable as a planting around a fountain. The sweet moss rose trailing through the grass and mixing its blossoms with the yellow of the Scotch rose is often used for low effects, or where very little coloring is advisable. The amount of planting and the height naturally depend upon the design of the individual fountain. Those that are ornamental are so effective that they need practically nothing to bring out right effects.
Iris is always in good form. We find it to-day so highly developed that in comparison to the little fleur-de-lis that grows unmolested in the neighboring swamp, it seems scarcely a variety of the same flower. As we are able to buy both double and single Irises, we should make a choice and not mingle the two. The double with its flowers averaging from eight to ten inches across, is an artistic foil for the white of the fountain. Commencing with the German, which comes into bloom about the middle of May, we can follow the time of blossoming through the introduction of the Japanese Iris which lasts through July. In their planting, better effects are produced if two colors only are used. This can be supplemented by a third if the coloring is broken by the introduction of a thread of white. For the German, why not use the Honorabilis, which is a golden yellow with outside yellow petals shading to a mahogany brown, or the King of Iris, which is a clear yellow. The Florentina Alba gives the white coloring, its flowers being very large and fragrant. These two colors can be enhanced by the adding of the Camillian which is a delicate blue with falls tipped a little darker shade. These are more suited for a fountain with a low curbing or for an informal garden where cement is used. They give a very pretty effect, their flowers being pictured in the water below.
THIS WALL FOUNTAIN WITH ITS SHELL BACKGROUND AND BASIN IS MOST FITTINGLY PLACED
Pansies are never out of place. A very pretty idea is to have them massed for as many as eight inches around the curb. Choose for these, bright-colored varieties rather than dark. The tufted pansies, which are one of the most important bedding plants in Europe, are rapidly growing in favor in our country. One reason for this is that they flower continuously for nearly eight months in the year. The flowers are not as large as those of the single pansy, but their bright colors make them a welcome addition to our garden. The rich, golden yellow, the violet with a dark eye and the white, are all three admirable for this purpose.
Pansies love coolness and give their largest and finest flowers in early spring and late fall. They are so easy to grow, rioting in the cool, deep mellow beds they love, that everybody should use them. They will endure all winter long if protected by a few evergreen vines. The size needed for bedding for your fountain depends entirely upon the width of the bed. The most superb specimens are found among the orchid flowering ones. They take their name mainly from their tints and variation of color resembling the gorgeous shades seen in orchids. These are the most novel and distinctive strain that we have used for years.
Have you ever considered the graceful effect of ornamental grasses? They can be used with telling effects for the margin of the fountain, although care must be taken not to plant those that grow to enormous height. The Euallia Japonica is appropriate. Its long, narrow, graceful green foliage, flowering into attractive plumes, give it a distinctive place for this purpose. Mix with it the Zebra grass, whose long blades are marked with broad yellow bands across the leaf. Intermix with this the hardy fountain grass which grows only four feet in height and has narrow foliage, bright green in coloring, cylindrical flower-heads carried well above the foliage, tinged with a bronze purple and is one of the most valuable of the hardy grasses.
In the planting of the grasses, to make the best effect give the taller ones the outside row, letting the low ones fall over the water, mirroring in the surface below. One of the advantages in using this is that it attracts birds and butterflies. Nothing can attract the songsters quicker to your fountain than this kind of surrounding.
Occasionally, we find that instead of planting, beds are geometrically laid out to surround this, the axis of the garden design. In cases like this we have to depend upon the borders for effect. These can be hedge-loving plants or they can be a solid, low planting. Scotch heather is very pretty. It should be grown in sunny places with moist surroundings. Its racimes of dark rose pink petals, lasting from July to September, make it very effective for this purpose. The Japanese Barberry can also be included, nothing equals it in artistic value. It requires but little pruning to keep it in shape, while its fruit or berries, assuming rich brilliant colors in the fall, are most effective when used for a setting like this.