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The best plants to use in carpet-bedding are the following: Coleus, in various shades of red, maroon, and scarlet, light and dark yellow, green and white, and varieties in which colors and shades of color are picturesquely blended. Achyranthes, low-growing plants in mixtures of red, pink, yellow and green. Alternatheras, similar to Achyranthes in habit, but with red as a predominating color.
Mary Penrose's mother, my mother, and Lavinia Cortright were all school friends together, and since Mary married Bartram and moved to Woodridge we've exchanged many little visits, for our husbands agree, and now that she has time she is becoming an enthusiastic gardener, after my own heart, having last season become convinced of the ugliness of cannas and coleus beds about a restored colonial farmhouse.
At length Coleus of Samos passed through the frowning gateway of Hercules into the circumfluous sea, the Atlantic Ocean. No little interest attaches to the first colonial cities; they dotted the shores from Sinope to Saguntum, and were at once trading depôts and foci of wealth.
The beauty of the sea and shore was almost indescribable: on one side rose Point Loma, grim and gloomy as a fortress wall; before me stretched away to the horizon the ocean with its miles of breakers curling into foam; between the surf and the city, wrapped in its dark blue mantle, lay the sleeping bay; eastward, the mingled yellow, red, and white of San Diego's buildings glistened in the sunlight like a bed of coleus; beyond the city heaved the rolling plains, rich in their garb of golden brown, from which rose distant mountains, tier on tier, wearing the purple veil which Nature here loves oftenest to weave for them; while, in the foreground, like a jewel in a brilliant setting, stood the Coronado.
One of the dark copper-colored varieties would show to fine effect if surrounded with either yellow Pyrethrum or gray Centaurea. Ageratum, with its delicate lavender-blue flowers, can be made extremely attractive in combination with yellow Coleus. A pink Geranium surrounded with gray Centaurea would be delightful in the harmony that would result from a combination of these colors.
Alternatheras and Achyranthes will need very little shearing, as to top, because of their habit of low growth. In setting these plants in the bed, be governed by the habit of each plant. Achyranthes and Alternatheras, being the smallest, should be put about four inches apart. Give the Coleus about six inches of lee-way, also the Centaurea.
Most amateur gardeners are familiar with the various merits of Coleus, Alternatheras, Achyranthes, "Golden Feather" Pyrethrum, and Centaurea maritima, better known as "Dusty Miller" because of its gray foliage. These are all good, when properly cared for, when used for edging beds and borders.
Or the whole star might be of a solid color, with a border of contrasting color. Red Coleus with Madame Salleroi Geranium as a border would look well. So would yellow Coleus edged with Centaurea. We do not lay as much stress on edging beds and walks with flowering plants as formerly, but the practice is a most pleasing one, and ought not to be neglected.
The Ageratum is a lovely plant for a low bed, with its great masses of soft lavender flowers. Fine effects are secured by using dark yellow Coleus or golden Pansies as an edging, these colors contrasting exquisitely with the dainty lavender-blue of the Ageratum. "What flowers shall we grow to cut from?
If any intermingling of colors "from across the line" is allowed, all sharpness of outline will be destroyed. The plants must be clipped frequently to keep them dwarf and compact. Make it a point to keep the larger-growing kinds, such as Coleus, Pyrethrum and Centaurea, under six inches in height rather than over it.
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