HOME LANDSCAPING 141

The expressiveness of flowers should be utilized to help produce
the effect that is desired in a landscape. Cacti, roses, calla lilies, and
pansies excite very different emotional reactions. Every kind of
flowering plant has personality and character. Whereas a mixed
profusion of simple old-fashioned flowers suits a cottage, a stately
house requires studied planting of elegant, conventional flowers,
and a Modern house suggests flowers having large, definite, and
unusual forms, such as the bird of paradise or succulents and cacti.

Color is the most noticeable element of flowers. Adjacent color
harmonies are more pleasing than complementary colors in flower
borders as well as in bouquets. In large grounds a definite section
might be reserved for flowers of adjacent colors such as blue,
violet, and pink, while another part of the grounds might admit
only scarlet, orange, and yellow flowers. White fits in anywhere.
It is more effective to have a large quantity of one color in blossom
at the same time than a mixture of colors. Long-lasting red berries
affect color choices too, for example, an ardisia border precludes
some iris neighbors but welcomes red amaryllis or white yucca.
Ample white and light colors make a garden effective at night.

An owner who is interested in featuring the flowers in his
garden should paint his house some pale neutral color. However,
if the house is natural red brick or some other colored material,
the color scheme of the flowers should be planned to harmonize
with the house. For example, coral-colored azaleas are preferable
to magenta beside a tan stucco house with a red roof.

Texture harmony makes it highly desirable to plant together
those same flowers that would look well if picked and placed in a
bowl together. A desirable combination is white sage, rose pinks,
and forget-me-nots, which agree in texture yet have variety.

Fragrance is such an important quality that definite effort should
be made to use some sweetly scented flowers such as tuberoses,
Nicotiana, lilacs, and butterfly lilies.

Timing is also an element in flower gardening since one aim is
continuity of bloom. Plantings should be made so that some part
of the garden is always at its best, and so that the periods of de-
cline strike the various garden areas at different times.

Economy of labor is achieved by choosing perennials and flower-
Ing shrubs rather than annuals, and by selecting plants that bloom
for a long time, like verbenas, and those that are hardy.