Transcriber's Notes
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
Variations in hyphenation have been standardised, but other variations in spelling,punctuation and accents remain as in the original.
The index entry for Solomon's seal has been corrected from 53, 37 to 25, 33.
The sequence of the table of illustrations has been altered byexchanging A SEPTEMBER GREY GARDEN and THE GREY BORDERS: GYPSOPHILA,ECHINOPS, &C. to correspond with the sequence of the illustrations inthe book.
The images of garden plans link to larger, higher definition, images on readers which support this facility.
COLOUR IN THE
FLOWER GARDEN
The "Country Life"
Library
COLOUR IN THE
FLOWER GARDEN
BY
GERTRUDE JEKYLL
PUBLISHED BY
| "COUNTRY LIFE," Ltd. | GEORGE NEWNES, Ltd. | |
| 20, TAVISTOCK STREET | 7-12, SOUTHAMPTON ST. | |
| COVENT GARDEN, W.C. | COVENT GARDEN, W.C. |
1908
v
INTRODUCTION
To plant and maintain a flower-border, with a goodscheme for colour, is by no means the easy thing that iscommonly supposed.
I believe that the only way in which it can be madesuccessful is to devote certain borders to certain timesof year; each border or garden region to be brightfor from one to three months.
Nothing seems to me more unsatisfactory than theborder that in spring shows a few patches of floweringbulbs in ground otherwise looking empty, or with tuftsof herbaceous plants just coming through. Then thebulbs die down, and their place is wanted for somethingthat comes later. Either the ground will then showbare patches, or the place of the bulbs will be forgottenand they will be cruelly stabbed by fork or trowelwhen it is wished to put something in the apparentlyempty space.
For many years I have been working at theseproblems in my own garden, and having come tocertain conclusions, can venture to put them forthwith some confidence. I may mention that from thenature of the ground, in its original state partly woodedand partly bare field, and from its having been broughtinto cultivation and some sort of shape before it wasviknown where the house now upon it would exactlystand, the garden has less general unity of designthan I should have wished. The position and generalform of its various portions were accepted mainlyaccording to their natural conditions, so that the gardenground, though but of small extent, falls into differentregions, with a general, but not altogether definite,cohesion.
I am strongly of opinio