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See also Flower garden
Sentimental Gardens
Of what may be called sentimental gardens there are doubtless more kinds than will ever be numbered, because any one is likely to extend the list
through purely personal promptings of the heart.
The best for general recommendation is the garden
of friendship. All of the plants in it, of course,
are from friends or from seed sent by them; and
it is astonishing to find how many are only too
glad to contribute. Long-lived, hardy plants ought
to be given the preference.
Association Gardens
A garden of association might mean this, too;
but a wise differentiation is a gathering together of
plants personally and through friends that
come from places of historical and literary interest.
Shakspere, Bible and Virgil gardens are among
the possible specializations, though all offer ob-
stacles to completeness that few would find sur-
mountable. Enough for most will be to visualize
"Daffodils that come before the swallow dares"
or some of the other easy references.
Garden Names
The name garden has occasional possibilities that
have not begun to be recognized. Rose and Violet may choose either the flower or the color for
theirs. Daisy is perhaps not less fortunate in the
variety of "day's eye" flowers that extend over
the entire season. And there is Lily, with glorious
opportunities from May to September. If there
be but contentment with one or two kinds of flow-
ers, several other feminine names, and perhaps as
many masculine ones, may be coupled with gardens.
Is it too small a thing to bestow the name of Mary's
garden on a generous planting of "blue-eyed
Mary" and "sweet Mary," or Susan's garden on
a grouping of the two flowers known as "black-eyed
Susan" ? Surely there would be something in them
to Mary or Susan that an acre of roses would
lack even though there were not a precise match-
ing of eyes.
Color Gardens
Color gardens are more dreamed of than re-
alized. Yet they offer a most fascinating field
that would not seem hedged in with trials and
tribulations if the first thing to remember were
not usually overlooked. It is this: there is no
statute on the books requiring a pink garden, for
example, to be all pink. How soon the eye would
tire were there not the green of the leaves; and
if the color why not a touch of white? The only
rule is to have the name color dominant, and no
more so than you fancy. White always is a re-
freshment and a bit of yellow warms up a blue
garden. A red garden ought not to be too red, as
this is a hot color in summer; use winter berries and
evergreen foliage in generous measure. By skillful planting the garden may be four or five colors
in succession. In that event, yellow is a warm color
for spring.
The Old-Fashioned Garden
The old-fashioned garden is a somewhat con-
fused term. It may mean a formal Colonial garden
or a garden having only the flowers of other days,
with little or no color and planting order. Either
interpretation will answer in its place. But do
not worry yourself to death trying to find out where
the old-fashioned flowers begin and the new ones
end; it is a hopeless task. If the garden looks
old-fashioned, or Colonial, a few anachronisms will
not matter a great deal.
Wild Gardens
There are also two kinds of wild gardens, real
ones and crazy ones. The latter are the product
of the pernicious habit of mixing various flower
seeds together and scattering them broadcast to
come up as best they may. The real kind is a
bit of the wild brought to the home. It offers
no end of attractive possibilities, especially where
there is adjacent woodland and conditions may be
adapted instead of being created.
Fruit Gardens
Finally, there is the fruit garden which first is a flower garden, yet seldom figuring in that light.
Now that there are all manner of dwarf fruit trees, enchanting spring pictures are to be made.
Though the fruit is highly decorative later, there are spaces where flowers may bloom all summer.
In early spring the fruit garden may be brightened with various bulbs.
Garden Schools
Formal garden
Other types of Gardens
Wall garden
Water garden
Bog garden
Related Garden Articles
Garden layout
Garden planning
