Happily we know better now, and as the new knowledge advances we are learning how to use our plants in the ways they deserve. But it should be remembered that the tender summer flowers that were almost exclusively employed in those unenlightened days still have their uses. There are some persons with whom the revulsion from the methods of the old �bedding� days is so strong that it includes a condemnation of the plants themselves, so that they will not admit scarlet Geranium, or blue Lobelia, or yellow Calceolaria into their pleasure-grounds. But, properly employed, these are all good garden plants, and it was not their fault that they were used in uninteresting ways. The sun-loving Geranium is, and always will be, the best thing for vases; and now that there are so many good varieties, there is an ample choice for the exact shade of colour that may best suit the position. The clear, pale yellow of Calceolaria amplexicaulis is almost unmatched for purity, and is indispensable in some such arrangement as will be later described. The blue Lobelia�the bluer the better�is of value for jewels of pure colour in the right setting. In fact there is hardly any garden plant, only excepting some that have flowers of a rank magenta colouring, that cannot be worthily employed in some well considered connection or combination.
Although the text of this book and its illustrations deal mostly with hardy perennials, mention of these tender plants, which are of value in every garden, cannot be omitted in a book dealing with the subject of colour.
