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Cheap Flowers: My children attended schools there and it was cheap flowers at that time, dirt cheap flowers, which explains why we could stay there. We saved a lot of money as against living at home. We could secure two double rooms, enough to shelter the four of us, for two dollars a day in small family hotels. We could secure good nourishing meals for twenty-five cents apiece. Metro fares were one cent. So I and my budget were spoiled.
Nicotiana alata originally came from southern Brazil, and its flowers once opened about 6:00 P.M. But hybridizers have been busy and the flowers now stay open most of the day. Yet it is at night that the sweet fragrance makes its mark. Two cultivars are especially recommended: 'Grandiflora Alata' growing 3 feet high, with large white flowers often 2 inches across; and 'Lime Green' reaching 30 inches in height, with flowers the shade of lime sherbert.See Also Flower Gardens:Gardens are at their magnificent best in sun-warmed Monaco, so closely guarded from rough winds by the Maritime Alps. Four varied gardens, all beautifully maintained, are the Casino Park and flower gardens Beds; the Exotic Gardens (with interesting grottoes), appropriately known as "Petite Afrique," boasting tropical trees and shrubs; the neighboring Park of Princess Antoinette; and the St. Martin Gardens, with their handsome pines, adjacent to the Oceanographic Museum on Monaco Rock.
Present day trends in the design of houses and gardens are toward simplification. Functionalism is considered good. So is originality, provided it is not too extreme. Originality that comes from strain and striving for the unusual defeats its purpose. It lacks restraint. Superficial Decoration has been discarded. Along with the gingerbread and curlicues of late nineteenth and early twentieth century architecture have gone geometrical flower gardens beds, tortuous paths, elaborate fountains, complicated rustic work, gazing globes and other features that once cluttered gardens. The best gardens of today are lovely and
livable.
On The Other Hand See Annual Flowers:Of all the garden flowers, the annual flowers grasses are still favorites of mine. As a group, they are rarely grown for their foliage, which, except for the ornamental corns, looks weedy at best. Instead grasses are grown for the endless variety of their flowers and seed heads. Whether we plant them to relieve our dependence on the typical bedding annual flowerss or to gather and dry them for winter decorations, these plants deserve a place in many more gardens.
As a general rule, these plants need a position with full summer sun for adequate growth and flowering, but they are not too fussy about soil conditions. As long as the soil drains and is capable of supporting a good crop of weeds, the annual flowers grasses should do well.
HERE ARE some favorite herbs that are grown more for their decorative appeal than for culinary reasons.
Lavandula angustifolia, commonly known as lavender, is a well-known herb used mostly in the flower garden. It has spikes of purple flowers and small, gray-green leaves, and is highly fragrant.
For a splash of color, the pot marigold, Calendula officinalis (annual flowers), is a good rustic-style backyard plant with vivid orange-yellow flowers, each with a dark eye. Tansy, Tanacetum vulgare, is another favorite plant for rustic-style backyards. It has deeply cut leaves and small yellow flowers held on tall stems.
There are many other colorful ornamental herbs to brighten up the flower garden, including the nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus (annual flowers). This has bright heads of scarlet, red, orange and yellow trumpet-shaped flowers and leaves that are rounded in shape. Bergamot, Monarda didyma, has spectacularly colorful flowers of red, pink, white or purple and the whole plant has a delightful fragrance.
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