copyright, Kellscraft Studio
1999-2004  
                                          
(Return to Web Text-ures)                                             
Click Here to return to
The American Flower Garden
Content Page

Click Here To Return
To the Previous Chapter

(HOME)

 "That is best which lieth nearest;
Shape from that thy work of art."
                                        -- LONGFELLOW.

"It has been the office of art to educate the perception of beauty. We are immersed in beauty but our eyes have no clear vision."

-- EMERSON.
CHAPTER X

SHRUBS 

TREES grow above the height of one's eyes; flowering plants below it; but shrubs that are on the eye level, like well-hung pictures, occupy the most important space in the garden gallery. Do they justify so conspicuous a position? Evidently, for their popularity steadily increases, a thousand being sold in the United States this year for every one that was bought a generation ago; but then, it should be considered that our interest in all kinds of planting has increased by leaps and bounds. Many old estates that have a fine growth of trees lack shrubbery that indicates any appreciation of its pictorial value in landscape gardening. Lilacs, mock orange, strawberry shrub and the spicy flowering currant were usually grown near the house for their fragrance and not for their value in the landscape composition.

The present generation is using a great variety of shrubs and for many purposes. People who live on small suburban places, where there is room for only a few trees, find that tall shrubs planted as a boundary belt make an effectual screen from the eyes of the passers-by; and even on large estates an undergrowth of shrubbery for the boundary trees is usually planted where low-branched evergreens are not used. Whoever has walked through woods from which all the natural undergrowth has been cleared away by an over-tidy owner realises that they have lost half their charm. Shrubs are the natural complement of trees, filling in the gap between their branches and the ground. Almost every important  group of them is improved by more or less shrubbery about its base. Artists talk much about the sky line of pictures, but the artistic gardener, realising that the earth line is at least as important, diversifies and adorns it with blossoming shrubs wherever he can, learning from nature how to plant. Her woodland borders, which draw the eye gradually from the earth to where the tall tree-tops seem to rest against the sky, are fringed with viburnums, cornels, alder, chokeberry, shad bush, elder, sumac, wild roses and a host of other shrubs that not only fill the intermediate spaces but supply the intermediate tones in her colour scale. What beauty springs up along the old fence rows where nature is left free to plant them as she will!

Shrubs grow so readily that they are the main dependence for quick results. It would take years for trees unaided by them to make a new place homelike. No one cares to wait half a lifetime to screen his grounds, shut off the service end of his house and conceal the drying ground and outbuildings, when a hundred hardy blossoming shrubs, that are good enough for mass planting and that can be bought for twenty dollars, will quickly hide unsightly places. While it never pays to buy inferior stock, however low in price, many a lovely shrub is so easily propagated that it can be sold at a profit for the price of a cigar. For a single choice specimen, however, one that merits isolation to display its charms, who would grudge a dollar? Where only a small sum can be spent for planting a place, the list will surely include a preponderance of shrubs, because with them greater diversity of form, colour and texture, more lasting beauty and abundance of bloom may be had at a low cost than from plants of any other class.

Trees cannot well be planted next a house without robbing it of light and air, but tall shrubs as a background for lower ones grouped around them take off the sharpness from corners, and let sunshine stream in at the windows. Banked in front of foundation walls, they relieve the hardness of the line where house and land meet. The home seems to nestle cosily in a nest of green instead of springing suddenly from the lawn like a Jack from a box. For filling in the angles of a house and the corners between its steps and side walls, for extending architectural lines that end too abruptly, for helping to conceal faulty design, for softening hard, uncompromising masonry such as high retaining walls and buttresses, for making entrances inviting and taking the curse off wire fences and red brick enclosing walls, what should we do without shrubs?


FOR FILLING IN THE ANGLES OF A HOUSE, FOR RELIEVING THE HARDNESS OF THE FOUNDATION
LINE WHERE HOUSE AND LAND MEET, FOR SCREENING OFF THE SERVICE END AND FOR
MAKING A HOUSE APPEAR TO BE SETTLED COSILY IN A NEST OF GREEN, WHAT SHOULD
WE DO WITHOUT SHRUBS?

Technically, the difference between a tree and a shrub is a matter of one stem or many stems from the root, but some species there are that do very much as they please, to the confusion of classifiers. The shad bush, the dogwood, the starry magnolia and the laburnum, for example, may be either bushes or trees. Much top-shearing of the boxwood may cause several stems to spring from the root around its central trunk, thus changing it by the mere act of pruning from a tree to a shrub. Because some shrubs that are top-pruned make dense growth at the bottom, they are especially desirable for hedges. Such is the over-planted but indispensable privet which, if left to its own devices, becomes tall and leggy. Sheared of its new growth, on which ill-scented blossoms would form in a natural state, it devotes all its splendid energies to making stems and foliage near the ground until a green wall, apparently solid, is formed by a hedge of it.

For most purposes there is a bewildering array of shrubs to choose from, but what should we do for formal hedges without the ubiquitous privet and box? Yet the last place to find monotony should be in a garden. High hopes of the Japanese ilex filling a long-felt want are entertained, but it has not yet been fully tested by time, and it is still expensive. Italian and English gardens owe much of their beauty to an ilex that will not live here, to several species of laurel that we cannot have, and to other evergreen shrubs of which, unhappily, we have no counterparts. It is true that the hemlock and some other of our evergreen trees make beautiful hedges, but the evergreen shrubs that thrive on this side of the sea are lamentably few, and not all of these will endure the pruning shears. For informal evergreen hedges, however, nothing could be finer than rhododendron or laurel. Among bushes that lose their leaves in winter, but compensate us with a prodigal wealth of spring or summer bloom, are the spireas, deutzias, lilacs, altheas, rugosa roses, Japanese quinces, weigelias, and some others, any one of which is effective used for an informal, unclipped hedge not required for defence. The barberries, north of Philadelphia, and the hardy thorny orange south of it make good defensive hedges. Mixed hedges rarely, if ever, satisfy the artistic eye. If hedges of any and every sort ever come to be as commonly used here as they are in England, we may make kindling of the fences that now disfigure our land and sing paeans of joy for the deliverance. How did it. happen that a people, with all their gardening and other traditions derived from the Old World, could have so far departed from them as to substitute the wooden and wire fences for the green, impenetrable, permanent hedge that requires little mending and no paint?

As it is actually cheaper, oftentimes, to plant a bank with shrubbery than to grade and sod it, a concavity on a steep side hill will sometimes be filled in with prostrate privet (Ligustrum Ibota var. Regelianum) or other shrubbery that will bind the soil and prevent it from slipping and washing. Many a house set on a narrow ridge of hill-top would appear to be less in danger of falling off the edge if the slopes around it were broadened by shrubs. How narrow and sharp would the cones of many mountains appear were it not for the trees that pad their sides!

The kinds of shrubs to plant anywhere will necessarily depend upon the peculiar conditions of each place, the climate, the soil, the situation and the personal preference of the owner governing the selection of them, it might go without saying. However one may admire camellias, hibiscus and oleanders in Southern and Californian gardens, one may not hope to grow them except under glass at the North. A stiff clay soil would prove a cemetery for any of the fine, fibrous-rooted heath tribe; therefore azaleas and laurel must be stricken from the list unless one is able to prepare for them the light loam, made cool and mellow with humus, that is their necessity. A bleak, windy side of a house one need not expect to beautify permanently with the holly-leaved Mahonia. Books and the carefully prepared catalogues of high-class nurseries may help the novice in deciding what to plant, but if he cannot afford to employ an expert landscape gardener to direct his choice, he is likely to learn far more from studying what nature uses most effectively in her garden that lies about him. Let him select the shrubs native to his region as a basis for other planting, not only because they are most likely to thrive, but because they, like the indigenous trees, will prevent his place from looking like an island in the landscape, wholly unrelated to its natural environment. Unless one's time is worth nothing, it is actually cheaper to buy the native stock, improved and strengthened by cultivation in a nursery, rather than to dig it oneself from the woods. A shrub from Japan may easily cost you less than one from a neighbour's thicket. Every town in America needs a well planted public park, if only to serve as an object lesson in beautifying the home grounds of its citizens. It could be the best of teachers, but how rarely one is!

For Canada, New England and the Central states, East and West, the main body of shrubs chosen will not be wild cornels, viburnums, spice bush, elder, laurel, azalea, sumac, alder, witch hazel, button bush, clethra, white thorn, or whatever grows naturally round about one's county, for the sufficient reason that there are not enough species in any given locality to fit every place and purpose on the cultivated grounds about one's home. After exhausting their possibilities, reliance must be placed on the trusty, time-tried favourites that need no coddling, such as the lilacs -- and is any bush more beautiful than the old-fashioned, fleecy-plumed white lilac? -- the heavily scented mock-orange (Philadelphus); the floriferous spireas (except Anthony Waterer's magenta nerve shocker); the lovely deutzias; the Tartarian and other bush honeysuckles; the healthy, fluted-leaved Japanese snowball (not the old-fashioned bush, ever sickly from aphides) and those other members of the viburnum tribe that are doubly decorative in flower and fruit; the Japanese quinces shading from flame to peach-blow; the low-spreading Japanese barberry whose exquisite drooping, thorny stems are laden in winter with bright red berries, making it a joy to the eye the year around; the weigelias, the best and worst shrubs we have, for the deep purplish pinks of some of them are as awful as those of the rose of Sharon (Althaea), whose single white, shell-pink, hibiscus-flowered and lavender-blue blossoms are nevertheless delightful; the forsythia's burst of earliest spring sunshine, the snowberry and the white or pink Japanese roses (R. rugosa), but pray not the magenta ones!


A FRINGE OF GRACEFUL DEUTZIAS (D. gracilis) BACKED BY TALLER SHRUBS TO FILL IN THE
GAP CAUSED BY LOST LOWER BRANCHES OF THE SPRUCES.

However reliable all these may be as general purpose shrubs, others will be wanted for special purposes. First of these in public estimation is the large white-flowered hydrangea (H. grandiflora, var. paniculata), planted by every one who owns a twenty-foot lot. Severely pruned, well enriched, and copiously watered at flowering time, it furnishes great drooping heads of snowy bloom in late summer, when it has the shrubbery stage to itself. How may so conspicuous a shrub be artistically used in a landscape garden? Certainly the way not to plant it or any other startling bush is to dot it around a lawn -- the usual practice. A good rule to follow is to plant nothing anywhere that is not connected with the construction lines of a place. A lot of unrelated details, however beautiful in themselves, are always bad art out of doors. The great hydrangea, massed with a not far distant background of evergreens or other low-branched trees, or where its drooping panicles may hang in the foreground of heavy shrubbery, gains rather than loses by its position. A purple, golden or variegated-leaved shrub, if isolated on a fair green lawn, detached from all connection with the composition lines of planting, is all the more a distracting sight because so common. Such special purpose shrubs fulfill a distinct destiny in enlivening masses of shrubbery which, without them, might easily be monotonous. They add emphasis, richness and variety of tone. Colour may be the chief charm or the greatest offence to the eye, so wherever applied it must be used as sparingly and artistically as in a living-room. In the garden, especially, it is apt to be overdone. The dwarf horse chestnut, that sends up great spires of fleecy white flowers above masses of healthy foliage in July, after the pyrotechnic display from the spring shrubs has ended and before the hydrangea, the blue spirea and the altheas begin to bloom, serves the special purpose of filling in a gap. For massing in the foreground of groups of shrubbery its rather coarse habit makes it strongly decorative when viewed from a distance. The forsythia, whose growth in summer is rather loose and straggling, needs the support of its fellows to be effective. So does the red-stemmed dogwood bush, glowing above the snow. Most shrubs require special consideration for the best display of their charms.

The ungrammatical advice, "Plant thick, thin quick," it is sometimes well to follow. If allowed to crowd one another, shrubs lose their individuality, their identity becomes lost in the mass, they starve and deteriorate. There may be sometimes a doubt as to which should have preference, the artistic or the cultural treatment of shrubbery, but in all, except very rare cases, neither need conflict with the other. It is not necessary to sprinkle shrubs about a place, one specimen here, another there, in order to give each all the room it really needs to display its charms. Its individuality can be respected, whether in the shrubbery border or in an isolated position of honour; but no shrub, however beautiful in itself, should be so planted as to spoil the garden picture as a whole. In mass planting the danger is lest the shrubs become so crowded that the characteristics and charm of each are lost, for the sake of the general effect. In specimen planting the greater danger is lest a number of unrelated spots will spoil the unity of the design of the place as a whole. The novice will have no little difficulty in steering his course between Scylla and Charybdis.

Since the value of a shrub may easily lie less in its bloom than in its general character of form and habit -- its personality -- care must be taken not to shear it away. Bushes are usually headed back when they are received from the nursery, or if they grow too tall and spindling, but the reprehensible habit of trimming off all shrubs every winter until they are as flat-topped as a hedge is so common a fault of gardeners that special caution needs to be spoken as often as the pruning season comes around. And when is that? Shrubs that set buds in the fall should be trimmed immediately after flowering, or, better still, while they are in bloom, as a justification for robbing them of the long sprays that so adorn a house. If for no other purpose, one wishes an abundance of shrubs to supply the home with its most decorative cut flowers. A jar filled with forsythia sprays, although set in a north room, brightens it like sunshine. Vases of bridal wreath and long whips of blossoming almond give an air of festivity to a simple living-room that no florist's bouquet can out-do. Happily florists themselves are recognising the decorative value of shrubs and now offer in midwinter branches of lilacs that have been forced to bloom with ether, azaleas, spireas, snowballs, pussy willows and other darlings of the spring. Shrubs that bloom on the new wood made in spring or summer -- the hardy hydrangea, for example -- should be pruned in winter. One keen gardener, who is a law unto herself, does all pruning between December and March, for the reason that her bushes, which are benefited by the surgery, supply her at that lean season with flowers for the house and table. The best of the cuttings she places in pails of water in the sunny windows of an unused upper room, and carries downstairs triumphantly from time to time sprigs of forsythia, yellow jasmine, bush honeysuckle, the starry magnolia and cherry blossoms, which most quickly repay her, apple, peach and quince blossoms, deutzia, dogwood, almond and scarlet maple.

Whoever spends the winter in the country will choose many shrubs besides the barberry, cotoneaster, snowberry, dogwood, bush cranberry and euonymus, if only for the bright cheer of their fruit. And because the broad-leaved evergreens, the majestic rhododendron and the lovely laurel delight one after every other shrub is bare, their popularity steadily increases. People with deep purses buy them by the freight car load to mass along drives, under trees where other shrubs would be unhappy, around ponds and along brooks. Drying out of their fine fibrous roots is as fatal to them as to the azaleas, their cousins. Where water cannot prevent the catastrophe, much leaf-mould mixed with the peaty soil they are planted in helps avert it, but a mulch of leaves or grass cuttings from the lawn over their roots keep them cool and moist in summer when there is most danger of their drying out, and from the alternate freezing and thawing in winter or very early spring from which so many evergreens perish.

Nature covers her plants with a light mulch every autumn as the leaves fall, and the Japanese learned from her long ago the warmth of many layers of light material, which ward off scorching heat as well as cold. In burning piles of leaves, as many do, we rob our gardens of their warmest blankets and the compost heap of a contribution for which the costly laurel, rhododendron and azalea often pine to death. Our home grounds are apt to be fatally tidy. We don't realise that for the lack of a mulch, in summer as well as in winter, more fibrous-rooted and newly transplanted stock dies than from perhaps any other cause. Indeed, it is almost hopeless to bring to perfection any of the heath tribe without mulching. Among them are the costly and lovely azaleas, with a range of colour from purest white and pink to buff, yellow, salmon, orange and flame -- all the glory of a sunset being included in their marvellous tints. Many earthly possessions seem paltry indeed when compared with them. A walk along a path bordered by azaleas is like a stroll through a gallery where there is a beautiful picture at each step. The woman who denied herself a new spring hat for the enduring joy of a clump of the great rhododendron under her window had the right idea. 


HYBRID RHODODENDRONS NATURALISED ON THE BANKS OF A POND WHERE ONE
GROUP SUCCEEDS ANOTHER THROUGHOUT A LONG SEASON.

DECIDUOUS SHRUBS OF SPECIAL MERIT

ACACIA ROSE (Robinia hispida). Rose colour. May, June. 2 to 8 feet, Hairy in all parts except the flowers, which are pea-like in large clusters. Suckers freely from the roots and may become a nuisance. A valuable screen. Useful on banks. Increased by division.

ALMOND, FLOWERING (Prunus Japonica). Spreading. The commonest flowering almond of old gardens. Flowers rose coloured. May, June. 5 feet. Only the double form is in cultivation. Good garden soil. Leaves smooth; otherwise like flowering plum.

ALTHEA. See ROSE OF SHARON.

ARROW WOOD (---,Viburnum dentatum). Upright, but bushy. Flower cymes 3 inches across. May, June. 15 feet. White. Fruit bluish black. Excellent for moist soil. Leaves lobed.

AZALEA, PINXTER FLOWER, ETC. These are among the earliest large-flowering shrubs, the majority blooming before the leaves appear. ---, GHENT (A. Gardavensis). The most showy early flowering shrub, April. 2 to 4 feet. Largest orange and salmon coloured flowers of spring.  ---, JAPAN (A. Sinensis or mollis). Flame-coloured and yellow. Every shade like a sunset. ---, CAROLINA (A. Vaseyi), purest pink, 1 ½ inches across. 4 feet. ---, PINXTER FLOWER (A. nudiflora). Pink veined with crimson lake. For wild garden. 3 to 5 feet. ---, WHITE (A. viscosa). 2 to 4 feet. Plant near water. Also some evergreen species. All the azaleas demand open, loose soil, well drained. Preferably with humus. See also RHODORA and EVERGREENS.

BARBERRY, COMMON (Berberis vulgaris). 6 feet. Bright scarlet berries, half inch long, last till spring. Var. atropurpureus has dark plum-coloured foliage, valuable as foil to brighter-leaved plants. Perfectly hardy. ---, JAPAN (B. Thunbergi). Best low ornamental shrubbery plant. Dense, compact growth, small shiny branches. Red berries all winter. Foliage is brilliant scarlet in fall. Quick grower on rich soils, but thrives anywhere. 4 feet. Invaluable for shrubbery or specimens. Propagate by seeds.

BLADDER NUT (Staphylea trifolia). Greenish white flowers in nodding panicles. April, May; 6 to 15 feet. Sharply toothed leaves slightly hairy. A strikingly pretty shrub with three-foliate leaves. Any soil and position, but best in rich, moist loam partly shaded. (S. Colchica). 12 feet. 5 leaflets. Has more conspicuous flowers. Pods of both much inflated in summer.

BLADDER SENNA (Colutea arborescens). Flowers yellow. July to September. To 15 feet. Rapid growing, free flowering. Valuable for lightening the shrubbery with its pale green foliage. Large inflated pods in late summer. Not quite hardy North. Any soil, with preference to fairly dry and sunny. Propagate by seeds in spring, mature wood cuttings in fall.

BLUE SPIREA (Caryopteris Mastacanthus). Conical flower spikes with lavender-blue flowers. August, September. The only blue-flowered shrub of late summer and fall. Extremely attractive to bees; flourishes well along the seacoast. Can be cut down to the ground annually, like an herbaceous plant, for which it might be easily mistaken. Blue flower spikes suggest a larkspur.

BUCKTHORN (Rhamnus catharticus). Sturdy shrub with spring branches. Oval leaves, flowers white. May. 10 feet. Fruit a black berry, large. Very hardy. Garden soil, rather dry. ---, ALDER (R. Frangula). Has fruit red, changing to black in September. 12 feet. Moist Soil. ---, SEA (Hippophoe rhamnoides). Best grayish-green foliage for seaside and sandy soils; used for binding. Also grows well in garden soils. On poorest land sometimes as low as two feet. Staminate plants more upright than pistillate. Berries orange-yellow. September; 10 feet, sometimes a tree 20 feet. Yellowish flowers in May.

BUDDLEIA (Buddleia Lindleyana). June, July; 3 to 6 feet. Racemes of purplish violet flowers 6 inches long. Not quite hardy in the North, but flowers on new growth from the root. Worth growing for its colour. Light, well-drained soil, sunny position. Propagate by greenwood cuttings in spring, or hardwood cuttings in fall kept away from frost.

BUSH CLOVER (Lespedeza Sieboldi). Small pea-like flowers in rosy pink clusters in September; up to 6 or 8 feet, but usually much smaller from winter-killing. Hardy in central New England. Valuable for its late season. Any soil. Propagate by division.

CHASTE TREE, MONK'S PEPPER TREE (Vitex Agnus-castus). Narrow, pinnate leaves, grayish beneath. Flowers bluish lilac. July, September; varying height, generally 6 to 8 feet. Valuable for its late season. Not quite hardy in the North, where the less showy Y. incisa survives. Any rather dry, sunny situation preferred. CHOKEBERRY (Aronia arbutifolia). Flowers April to May; 6 to 12 feet. White or tinged red. Numerous pear-shaped berries, a quarter inch across, bright or dull red, September. ---, BLACK (A. nigra). Similar, but with black berries. Both perfectly hardy and among the most beautiful fruiting small shrubs. Any soil.

CLETHRA. See SWEET PEPPER BUSH.

CORAL BERRY (Symphoricarpos vulgaris). Like the snowberry, but having smaller and purplish or reddish berries, persisting all winter. 5 feet. Foliage turns red in autumn. Native to the Middle States, but escaped from cultivation in the East. Also a variegated form.

CORNEL, BUSH DOGWOOD (Cornus candidissima). One of the best white blooming shrubs of June, followed by white berries on coral stems. Any soil.    ---, SILKY (C. Amomum). Dark green leaves, whitish beneath. White flowers in June; 3 to 10 feet. Particularly valuable for its blue and bluish white fruit persisting in winter. Vigorous growing. Moist or dry soils. The cornels and dogwoods are among the most valuable of all shrubs, because of their many-coloured fruits for late summer and fall effects, and bright-coloured barks in winter, growing well in shade or exposed and in any soil. Flowers white in the species named here. Propagate from mature wood cuttings or seeds.

CORNELIAN CHERRY (Cornus Mas). Flowers yellow before the leaves. March to April in umbels; 20 feet, sometimes a small tree. Oblong, edible fruit, ¾  inch long, bright scarlet. A very valuable larger shrub, attractive both spring and fall. Propagate like other cornus and cornel.

CRANBERRY, HIGH BUSH. See SNOWBALL.

CURRANT, FLOWERING (Ribes aureum). Flowers yellow, spicy fragrant. A favourite in old gardens. May; 4 feet. Bright green foliage, adapted to any good soil. Very effective among dark foliaged plants.

DAPHNE (Daphne Mezereum). April; 3 feet. Reddish lilac, fragrant. Thick clusters of red berries in the summer. The earliest warm-coloured shrub that flowers before the leaves. (D. Gwenka). 3 feet. The best lavender and nearest approach to blue among the shrubs flowering before the leaves. Not hardy North. Well-drained light soil, with partial shade for both kinds. Propagate by seeds, which germinate slowly, or layers in the spring. See also GARLAND FLOWER.

DEUTZIA (D. Lemoinei). June; 3 feet. A new hybrid with larger flowers than the popular Pride of Rochester, which is taller growing and has the handsomest habit; double flowers, but pink. (D. gracilis). Slightly arching branches making a low-spreading bush; flowers single, white. May. All are hardy and thrive in any well-drained soil, and are among the best of the white-flowered shrubs. Propagate easily by greenwood and hardwood cuttings, also by seeds in spring.

DOCKMACKIE (Viburnum acerifolium). Slender, upright branches. Flowers yellowish white. May, June; 5 feet. 3 inches across. Fruit black. Foliage pinkish in autumn, becoming dark purple. Thrives in dryish soils under trees. Very valuable shrub. Propagate by seeds.

DOGWOOD, RED TWIGGED (Cornus stolonifera). Best red-barked shrub for winter effects. Better than the European Red Osier dogwood (C. sanguinea) with purple or dark blood-red branches. For best effect, cut back every two or three years to induce new growth. ---, ROUND LEAVED (C. circinata). Purplish branches, fruits light blue and greenish white. (See also CORNEL.)

ELDER, COMMON (Sambucus nigra). Useful for pond borders and wild gardening. ---, GOLDEN (S. nigra, var. aurea). 12 feet. The largest-leaved yellow shrub, especially for wet soils. Makes growth annually 10 feet. For lightening dense masses of green shrubbery. Better coloured if cut back frequently. Grows well in the shade.

ELEAGNUS. See GOUMI.

FRINGE TREE (Chionanthus Virginica). White. June; sometimes a slender tree to 30 feet; usually a large shrub. Slender thread-like flowers in June, after most other trees have flowered. Pretty blue berries all winter. Prefers a moist soil and must be sheltered in latitude of New England. Propagate by seeds in fall, also layers.


THE BRIDAL WREATH, A FAVOURITE IN OLD GARDENS, AND STILL THE MOST POPULAR
MEMBER OF THE SPIRAEA TRIBE.

GOLDEN BELL (Forsythia suspensa). Long, gracefully drooping branches of yellow flowers before the leaves. 6 feet. The most showy early flowering shrub of its colour. Good for foreground of shrubbery borders and on banks. (F. viridissima). Somewhat similar, with more flowers, but rather greenish colour and smaller, but holds its foliage later in the fall. Plant against dark background. Any garden soil. Propagate by cuttings any time, or seeds.

GOUMI (Eleagnus longipes). Whole plant covered with silvery scales. Reddish brown branchlets. Flowers yellowish white, inconspicuous but fragrant. April, May; 6 feet. Very showy scarlet fruit 1 inch long on long stalks and covered with scales. Acid; edible. (For soil and progagation see OLEASTER.)

GROUNDSEL BUSH (Baccharis halimifolia). 3 to 12 feet. Flowers in large panicles; dense, coarsely toothed foliage one to two inches long. One of the best seashore plants. Most effective in late summer when the silvery silken pappus on pistillate shrubs only is very conspicuous. Grows in any well-drained soil in sunny position. Propagate seeds or cuttings under glass.

HONEYSUCKLE, FRAGRANT (Lonicera fragrantissima). Creamy white. March to May; 8 feet. Foliage half evergreen. Most fragrant of the very early shrubs.   ---, JAPAN BUSH (L. Morrowi). White, changing to yellow. May, June; 6 feet. Bright red, sometimes yellow, fruits August till late fall. ---, MANCHURIAN (L. Ruprechtiana). White, changing to yellow; 8 to 12 feet. ---, TARTARIAN (L. Tatarica). May; 8 to 10 feet. Not changing to yellow. Most fragrant of all the early summer shrubs, especially at dusk. Flowers pink; several varieties red or white. Plant in shrubbery where its presence is made known by the odour. Valuable as a low screen on seaside. Fruit red or orange. Propagate seeds in fall or ripe cuttings. Any good garden soil with sun. Prune in winter.

HORSE CHESTNUT, DWARF (AEsculus macrostachya). Flowers like a diminutive slender horse chestnut. July, August; 4 to 20 feet. One of the handsomest for distant lawn clumps; flowers being borne erect on the top of the dome-like mass of foliage. Moist, loamy soil. Can be increased by root cuttings, layers, seeds.

HYDRANGEA (H. paniculata, var. grandiflora). September; 8 feet as generally grown. Immense conical flower heads of white bracts lasting into winter and becoming pink, then greenish, but white all through September. Most conspicuous white shrub in the fall for shrubbery hedge and lawn. Prune severely in winter for quantity of flower; less so for larger trusses. Give rich soil and feed well. Propagate summer cuttings. The type or species sometimes attains 30 feet. More feathery, lighter heads of flower. ---,WILD (H. arborescens). Flat flower head. Creamy white. June, July; 8 feet. Sterile form is Hills of Snow. ---, HORTENSIA (H. hortensis). 8 feet. Flowers in large cymes without bracts. White, bluish, or pink. Few, or all, sterile. The greenhouse hydrangea; also for planting out in favoured situations. Will not usually stand much frost. An enormous number of varieties of this are offered in the trade. (a) JAPONICA Group: Cymes flat, sterile and fertile. (b) HORTENSIA Group: Cymes globose. Practically sterile; includes variety Thomas Hogg, the hardiest and best for outdoors. (c) STELLATA Group: Flowers with narrow sepals. The blue colour of the flowers in these groups depends upon soil conditions, and may usually be induced in the following year by watering with a solution of alum (one ounce to three gallons) all the preceding summer while growth is being made.

INDIGO, BASTARD (Amorpha fruticosa). Fine feathery foliage and spreading habit. 5 to 20 feet. Dark violet-purple flowers in racemes 3 to 6 inches long. Adapted to small shrubberies, dry sunny situations. Propagate by hardwood cuttings; also layers, suckers.

JAPAN QUINCE (Cydonia Japonica). May; 8 feet. Earliest, bright scarlet-flowered shrub. Useful also as a hedge. Plant as specimen. Slow growing. Subject to San Jose scale. Don't plant near decorative fruit trees or orchards unless systematically sprayed. Stands close pruning. Pink, salmon-pink, dark red, and white varieties.

KERRIA (Kerria Japonica). Flowers yellow, like single roses. May, June; 4 feet. Best graceful yellow-flowered shrub. Slender, pendulous branches, which remain bright green and effective all winter. Any garden soil. Double form and variegated form and dwarf with striped branches. Good as a specimen. Sometimes winter-kills in extreme North. Best in partial shade. Propagate cuttings, layers, or divisions. ---, WHITE (Rhodotypos Kerrioides). 4 to 5 feet. White, less profuse and later. Black berries retained all winter.

LILAC, COMMON (Syringa vulgaris). May; 20 feet. Very fragrant lilac, white, or purple flowers. Grows anywhere, even in partial shade. Spray with potassium sulphide for mildew in August, September. Do not permit suckers to develop. Prune for form only. Most popular old-fashioned summer flowering shrub. Transplant in autumn. ---, HUNGARIAN (S. Josikaea). June; 12 feet. Violet. More compact panicle. Less handsome, but larger, more club-like blooms. ---, CHINESE (S. Pekinensis). June; 15 feet. Handsome foliage retained late in fall. Young plants do not flower well. ---, PERSIAN (S. Persica). Most profuse bloomer. May, June; 5 to 10 feet. Loose, broad panicles; pale lilac, white. ---, ROUEN (S. Chinensis). May; 12 feet. Arching branches; purple, lilac, red, white. Hybrid of the Persian and common. Many named modern varieties of lilacs are offered in the catalogues: Marie Le Graye, best white; Ludwig Spaeth, dark purple; Belle de Nancy, pink with white centre, double. The named varieties are usually grafted on common privet, which has a tendency to sucker unless planted very deeply. Deep planting may result in the lilac ultimately getting on its own roots.

MAGNOLIA, HALL'S (Magnolia stellata). Most fragrant and showiest white-flowered shrub blooming before the leaves. April; 10 feet. Very fragrant. Differing from the other magnolias by having star-like instead of cup-shaped flowers. Blooms from 2 feet high. Rich soil, moderately moist. Difficult to transplant. Best done in spring. Propagate seeds or layers.

MAPLE, JAPAN (Acer palmatum in many varieties). 4 to 12 feet. Most important variously coloured and as variously cut deciduous small trees, but used as shrubs. Many named varieties in catalogues, as atropurpureum sanguineum, aureum, dissectum, etc., which names also describe them.

MOCK ORANGE, SYRINGA (Philadelphus coronarius). May, June; 10 feet. The most fragrant summer-flowering white shrub. Flowers 1 ½ inches across. Several named varieties in the trade. This is the most fragrant species, but somewhat stiff in habit and not so showy as some others. The crushed leaves often have the odour of cucumbers. (P. Lemoinei). Very graceful with arching branches covered with flowers. Many varieties of this, differing in size of flowers. (P. Gordonianus). Large flowers, but scentless. 12 feet. ---, GOLDEN (P. coronarius, var. aureus). Bright yellow. 10 feet. The most popular golden-leaved shrub, keeping its colour the whole season. Compact habit. Effective as an accent close to the house, or on the "points" of a shrubbery border. (P. Falconeri). Arching, oblong, pointed petals. June; 8 feet. (P. inodorus). Flowers in clusters of 1 to 3. May, June. Less floriferous than others and is sometimes not quite hardy North.

MULBERRY, FRENCH (Callicarpa purpurea). Flowers pink, in July; 3 to 4 feet. Grown for lilac-violet fruits which persist in dense clusters all along the stem into winter. Hardier than the native species, C. Americana, having more handsome violet-coloured fruits. Springs up from the roots and flowers the same season. Prefers sandy loam and heat. Full sun. Propagate by cuttings in spring or fall; also layers, seeds.

MULBERRY, TEA'S WEEPING (Morus alba, var. Tatarica pendula). Grafted at 4 feet. A small tree with severely pendulous branches with fairly deep-lobed leaves. Spreads a few feet only. For small gardens where some special character tree is wanted. Good for covering steep banks. Best small weeping tree for lawns. NANNY BERRY. See SHEEP BERRY.

NEW JERSEY TEA (Ceanothus Americanus). July to September; 3 feet. One of the freest flowering and latest blooming shrubs. White. Excellent for shaded places, dry woods, etc. Propagate by seeds and soft wood cuttings in spring, mature wood in autumn.

NINEBARK (Physocarpus opulifolius). Spreading, arching branches. Flowers in corymbs, greenish white, followed by bright red fruit; very effective in late summer. 8 to 10 feet. One of the best hardy native shrubs. Any garden soil and situation. Propagate by seeds or cuttings.

OLEASTER, RUSSIAN OLIVE (Eleagnus angustifolia). 20 feet. Handsome foliage with silvery undersides. Inconspicuous flowers, followed by ornamental fruit. June. Fragrant. Berries yellow. Also coated with silvery scales. Branches sometimes spiny. Any well-drained soil, including limestone. Propagates by seeds and cuttings very easily; also root cuttings and layers.

PEARL BUSH (Exochorda grandiflora). May; 5 feet. White flowers 2 inches across, with large green disc. Like a giant-flowered spirea, but blooming a trifle later. Very useful in shrubbery, best massed with other shrubs; especially effective With Forsythia suspensa in foreground. Grows in any good soil. Propagate seeds, cuttings, layers. Only old plants produce fruits.

PINXTER FLOWER. See AZALEA.

PLUM, FLOWERING (Prunus triloba). Pink flowers, double, appearing just before the leaves. May, June; 4 to 5 feet. Own root plants best by layering. Often grafted on plum as a standard, but then short lived. Much like flowering almond, but hairy. ---, PURPLE (P. Pissardi). Grown for its purple foliage. Flowers pale pink, small.

PRIVET, REGEL'S (Ligustrum Ibota, var. Regelianum). June, July; 8 feet, but usually a much smaller plant. The only privet worth growing for its flowers. Borne in pendant tassels on almost horizontally spreading branches. Valuable on banks. ---, GOLDEN (var. variegatum). 8 feet. Green and yellow. The quickest growing variegated shrub that can be sheared with impunity. For small edgings or borders to walks and for formal effects. Use judiciously in all cases. Not absolutely hardy, but usually safe. Propagated easily by cuttings. See also HEDGES.

RASPBERRY, FLOWERING (Rubus odoratus). 3 to 5 feet. Strong growing with shreddy bark. Leaves like a large maple. Flowers rose-purple, 1 inch across. Good for semi-wild effects. Isolate from other colours.

RHODORA (Azalea Canadensis). Flowers rose-purple in clusters of five to seven. A common native plant throughout Eastern and North America. April, May; 1 to 3 feet. The earliest flowering hardy azalea. Best on loose, peaty soil.

ROSE OF SHARON, ALTHEA (Hibiscus Syriacus). The best (or maybe the worst) August and late summer flowering tall shrub. 12 feet. Starts to leaf very late in the spring. Valuable for screens. Plant very early in the fall, but best in spring. Flowers on old wood. Variegated form. Many varieties with single and double flowers ranging from white through pink to magenta and purple; also variegated foliage; 18 feet. The single white, pure pink and lavender-blue varieties are very lovely, but some harsh hued altheas and weigelias are the ugliest shrubs in common cultivation. (H. Syriacus, var. fl. pl. variegatis). 15 feet, leaves green, edged light yellow. Sturdiest late-flowering variegated shrub. Quite hardy, stands shearing. The purple flowers are double and not showy.

ROSE, RUGOSA (Rosa rugosa). 3 feet. The only rose that makes an ornamental shrub, Dense mass of dark green foliage with large flowers produced at intervals all summer; fragrant. Magenta to pure white. Fruits very ornamental like small apples, orange-yellow. Best hybrids: Blanc double de Coubert, white; Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, silvery rose. All soils, including seaside. Do not prune. Propagate by seeds or named varieties by hard wood cuttings.

SHEEP BERRY, NANNY BERRY (Viburnum Lentago). White flowers. May, June, 30 feet. In cymes followed by clusters of oval bluish black fruit with bloom, which endure till spring. Sometimes a tree.

SENNA. See BLADDER SENNA.

SIBERIAN PEA (Caragana arborescens). Pale or bright yellow pear-like flowers. May and June; up to 20 feet. Sometimes a tree. Variety pendular with weeping branches is very beautiful. Any soil, but sandy preferred. Sunny position. Propagate by seeds, fall or spring, root cuttings and layers. Best yellow flowered shrub of its season.

SMOKE BUSH (Rhus Cotinus). Small flowers in loose panicles becoming profusely plumose in June, July; 10 to 12 feet. Very effective as lawn specimens. Leaves nearly round, dark green. A very characteristic shrub, common in old gardens. Attacked by borers.

SNOWBALL, COMMON (Viburnum Opulus, var. sterilis). Large balls of white flowers. May, June; 9 feet. Old-time favourite. Ragged habit and subject to plant louse. Deep moist soil. The fertile form of this shrub is the Highland cranberry, having scarlet fruit in July till following spring. ---, JAPAN (V. tomentosum). Is a much better shrub, especially for specimens. Flower heads more rounded, cleaner, leaves crinkled and deeper green, brown on the reverse. Blooms a little later. The best white large flowered summer shrub. May be trained on walls. Propagate by cuttings.

SNOWBERRY (Symphoricarpos racemosus). Clusters of large snow white berries, at intervals along the slender branches. An old-time favourite. Grows anywhere. Flowers pink but inconspicuous. May, June; 5 feet. Berries from late June till after frost. Spreads rapidly by suckers.

SILVER BELL, SNOWDROP TREE (Halesia tetraptera). White. May. 10 feet. Bewildering cloud of white flowers before the leaves. The most conspicuous of the early white flowering trees. Any good soil. Habit twiggy and pendulous.


THE RHODODENDRON IS OUR BEST EVERGREEN SHRUB. GROUPS OF TALL EVERGREEN TREES BEHIND
RHODODENDRONS SERVE AS A WINDBREAK AND MAKE AN EFFECTIVE FOIL FOR THE FLOWERS.

SPICE BUSH (Benzoin oderiferum). 6 to 15 feet. Leaves oblong, finely ciliate, bright green. Flowers yellow, before the leaves, in rosettes. One of the earliest flowering shrubs with aromatic bark. Fruit crimson, spicy. Foliage bright yellow in fall. Peaty and sandy soils. Propagate by greenwood cuttings under glass or by seeds. See also STRAWBERRY SHRUB.

SPIREA (Various species of Spiraea). White or pink. May, June; 4 to 6 feet. The most generally popular flowering shrubs of light, graceful habit for early summer, as lawn specimens, hedges, or in shrubbery. ---, BRIDAL WREATH (S. Thunbergii). Perhaps the most popular lawn shrub; profusion of small white flowers, feathery effect; May; finely cut bright green foliage all summer, turning to shades of red and yellow in fall; wood slender; makes excellent hedge. ---, VAN HOUTTE'S (S. Van Houttei). June; 6 feet. The most showy of the spireas; flowers in umbels two inches across. Handsome foliage all summer. Plant in conspicuous place with ample room. Cut out flowering wood in summer. Thrives anywhere. ---, ANTHONY WATERER (S. Bumalda, var. Anthony Waterer). July; 3 feet. The only shrub of its period. Flowers magenta-red produced successively for six weeks. Used for edging. Prune off old flower head as soon as withered if second crop is wanted. ---, PLUM-LEAVED (S. prunifolia). Slender branches, slightly hairy. Flowers in small umbels. Pure white, I 1/3 inch across. May; 6 feet. The double form (var. florepleno). With little white buttons, particularly showy and most commonly grown. Foliage not shining. Bright orange in fall. (S. arguta). White. May; 6 feet. The most free flowering and showiest of the early kinds. A hybrid from Thunberg's and quite hardy. The other parent (S. multiflora) blooms a little later, but otherwise similar. ---, STEEPLE BUSH (S. tomentosa). Flowers in dense narrow panicles. Pink. July, September; 4 feet. Does not sucker like others of this section. Specially valuable late blooming shrub. ---, MEADOWSWEET (S. alba). Similar, but with white flowers, somewhat looser. June, August. See, also GOAT'S BEARD, in PERENNIALS.

SPIREA, BLUE. See BLUE SPIREA.

STAGGER BUSH (Pieris Mariana). Nodding flowers, in clusters, on leafless branches of the previous year. Pinkish white. April, May; 2 to 4 feet. Moderately moist, well-drained porous soil, in partial shade. Avoid limestone and heavy clay. Plant with rhododendrons. Propagate by layers or cuttings in heat.

STORAX (Styrax Japonica). Often a tree. Flowers white, 1 inch across in tassels, profusely strung all over the young growths. Hardy to Massachusetts. One of the most beautiful summer shrubs. June, July; up to 30 feet. (S. Obassia). Larger fragrant flowers. Light porous soils. The best white tassel flowering summer shrub.

STRAWBERRY BUSH (Euonymus Americanus). Very attractive in fall, with expanded capsules showing pink berries. Flowers inconspicuous in June; 8 feet. Grows anywhere. Easily propagated.

STRAWBERRY SHRUB (Calicanthus floridus). An upright shrub with somewhat coarse leaves. Deep red-brown flowers with pungent, spicy odour. May; 6 to 10 feet. Propagate by division or layers. Any garden soil. An old favourite.

SUMACH, STAG HORN (Rhus typhina). Velvety, hairy foliage. Flowers in dense panicle, followed by red fruit masses. July, August; usually 10 to 12 feet, sometimes 30. One of the best for fall colour. Adapted to driest soils in wild or semi-wild situations. Var. laciniata has deeply cut foliage. ---, SMOOTH (S. glabra). 10 to 15 feet. Similar, but not hairy, very commonly planted in dense masses. There is a cut-leaved variety (var. laciniata). ---, POISON (R. venenata). 10 to 20 feet. Usually a tree. Very effective with red petiole and midrib with pinnate leaves. Shiny leaves, fruit white. Moist ground. Very beautiful, but poisonous.

SWEET PEPPER BUSH (Clethra alnifolia). July, September; 3 to 10 feet. Fleecy spires, white flowers with spicy fragrance; much visited by bees; excellent for late summer blooming, mixed shrubberies. Best for naturalising along streams and ponds. Moist peaty or sandy soil. One of the best late flowering shrubs, adapted to a variety of situations,

SYRINGA. See MOCK ORANGE.

TAMARIX (Tamarix gallica). Delicate pink plumes. May, July; I5 feet. Foliage very fine and plumy also. Unexcelled for salty and alkaline soils. Grows right on the sea side. Can be cut back severely. Flowers produced on old wood but in the variety Narbonnensis on the new wood. The best hardy shrubs for feathery effect in wind-swept places.

TREE PEONY (Paeonia Moutan). May, June; 3 to 6 feet. Immense rosy, magenta, crimson, pink or white flowers 1 foot across. The largest flowered early shrub. An immense number of varieties are offered; the best are grafted on common magenta stock which should not be allowed to develop. Give rich garden soil. Easily raised from seed.

VIBURNUM. See SNOWBALL, DOCKMACKIE, ARROWWOOD, NANNY BERRY, WAYFARING TREE, HIGH BUSH CRANBERRY.

WAX MYRTLE (Myrica cerifera). 3 to 6 feet. Dark green leaves, berries bluish white, coated with wax, with aromatic odour, and much sought by birds. Good for semi-wild effects.

WAYFARING TREE (Viburnum Lantana). Flowers white in cymes 3 inches across with seven showy white rays on the margin. May, June; up to 20 feet, sometimes a tree. Excellent for dry situation and limestone soils. Fruit bright red, changing to black.

WEIGELA (Diervilla florida). June; 6 feet. Showiest shrub of midsummer. Following the lilacs. Flowers pink, white, red, claret-crimson to magenta. Best flowering shrubs under big trees. Can be planted where other shrubs fail. Free from insects and disease. Cut out old wood to the ground. Many varieties, as: Abel Carriere and Rosea, carmine changing to red; Alba, changing to pink; Eva Rathke, dark wine red; Candida, pure white; Nana variegata, dwarf, variegated leaves.

WITCH HAZEL (Hammamelis Virginiana). Flowers yellow and brown. September, October, followed by conspicuous fruits which, brought indoors in winter, will explode and scatter seed; 25 feet. ---, (H. Japonica). Flowers February to April. Foliage bright yellow, orange, or purple in fall. Moist, peaty and sandy soil. Most valuable shrub of early winter.

YELLOW ROOT (Xanthorrhiza apifiolia). Flowers small, purplish. April; 1 to 20 feet. In drooping racemes. Any good soil but best in moist and shady places. Suckers freely in spring. Golden yellow in autumn. Stems and roots bright yellow. Not quite hardy North. 

 

THE VERY BEST TREES AND SHRUBS FOR HEDGES 

[In the following list are included only such plants as will stand shearing, for obviously any moderate growing shrub of low stature can be utilised for hedge purposes. Such may be selected from the list of Deciduous Shrubs]

ASHBERRY, HOLLY-LEAVED (Berberis or Mahonia aquifolium). Evergreen and hardy, but foliage sometimes burns in winter. Tassels of golden yellow flowers in May, followed by black purple berries with heavy bloom. 3 to 4 feet.

BARBERRY, JAPAN (Berberis Thunbergii). The best low ornamental defensive hedge plant. Foliage brilliant scarlet in fall; graceful arching twigs strung with red berries, persistent through winter; 3 to 3 ½ feet; quick grower; thrives North and South. ---, COMMON (B. vulgaris). Taller, not so neat, but hardy and decorative.

BEECH (Fagus sylvatica). Slow growing, very long lived, carrying foliage nearly all winter. Excellent screen. Plant very early. Valuable as a windbreak where evergreens are not suitable. Prefers dry, sandy loam or limestone soil.

BOXWOOD (Buxus sempervirens). The ideal hedge and edging plant for formal gardens. Dense habit. Evergreen. Moderately rapid grower. Can be sheared freely. There are several varieties; the tree box attains a height of 30 feet; dwarf box, 3 to 4 feet; others differ in size and form of leaf. Needs winter mulch at the North.

BUCKTHORN (Rhamnus cathartica). The best strong hedge, as dense and tight as honey locust, but not so high; 6 feet. Thorny, never ragged, moderate grower. Spray with kerosene emulsion for hop louse. Old hedges that are out of condition are easily recovered by cutting back.

CONIFEROUS EVERGREEN. In the North the coniferous evergreens are by far the most satisfactory hedge plants for all purposes. Of these the native hemlock is best, thriving everywhere. Young growth extremely feathery and whole plant lively green all the winter. --- Norway spruce, somewhat similar but stiffer and blacker. --- White pine, long needles of light gray green. Arborvitae is best small-foliaged dense-growing plant, making very compact hedge up to 20 feet. Stands shearing. Excellent for low soils and swamps. Plants from dry soils transplant badly. --- Siberian arborvitae is greener in winter. --- Yew: unfortunately this favourite European hedge plant is unreliable in America unless protected in winter from strong wind and sunshine. For hedge purposes the hemlock is its substitute. (For full descriptions see EVERGREENS.)

HOLLY (Ilex opaca). The native American holly, an excellent slow-growing evergreen which stands moderate shearing. Will grow throughout the Atlantic Coast. Best hedge plant for sandy soil. In the South Ilex cassine, with small arbutus-like leaves and brilliant red berries all winter, is better.

HYDRANGEA, HARDY (Hydrangea paniculata, var. grandiflora). Best flowering hedge for late summer. Immense white canes of bloom. August, September.

LAUREL, MOUNTAIN (Kalmia latifolia). For tall and broad screen up to 10 feet. Must not be sheared. Pinkish white flower clusters in May, June, are highly decorative. Well-drained soil, succeeding even in rocky places in New England. Evergreen.

LOCUST, HONEY (Gleditschia triacanthos). For a strong, high defence. The thorniest of all. "Bull strong, horse high, and pig tight." Perfectly hardy, fast and vigorous grower; suckers. Plant thickly and prune severely. Mice girdle in winter. Spring trimmings must be burned. Needs strict control.

MAGNOLIA (Magnolia glauca). Excellent south of New York. Large glaucous leaves becoming evergreen in the real South. One of the best for windbreaks. Beautiful in flower. M. conspicua and M. Soulangeana make most striking ornamental flowering hedges. (See TREES.)

MAHONIA. See ASHBERRY.

OSAGE ORANGE (Toxylon pomiferum). Grows in any soil. Makes a dense defensive high hedge as far north as Massachusetts. Unless regularly trimmed, the top branches will spread. Will exhaust soil on each side for some feet.

ORANGE, TRIFOLIATE (Citrus trifoliata). Best medium height, impenetrable hedge for the South, where it is evergreen. Deciduous in the North. Foliage yellow in fall. Not reliably hardy north of Philadelphia. White flowers in May, followed by small yellow fruits, make it ornamental also. Set one foot apart and cut back to 8 inches. Give two trimmings annually.

PRIVET, AMOOR (Ligustrum Amurense). Evergreen except in extreme cold situations; more spreading habit than California privet, and darker green. A valuable hedge plant, especially in the South, enduring both heat and cold and on any soil not an actual swamp. In rich soil will give good hedge in two years. ---, CALIFORNIA (L. ovalifolium). For shelter. Fastest growing. Stands salt spray. Good soil binder. Stands severest pruning and can be trained high or low. Most popular hedge plant in modern gardens. Free from disease and stands shearing with impunity. Almost evergreen. Foliage bright green in summer, becoming bronze in winter. Occasionally winter kills to the ground in the North. Set 6 inches deeper than in the nursery and cut back to 6 inches or less. Set 12 inches apart, or up to 2 feet in very rich ground. ---, REGEL'S (L. Ibota, var. Regelianum). Low growing, denser habit with spreading, drooping branches clothed with white tassels in June; 8 feet. Useful as a border hedge to plantations and along roadways. Should not be planted as a protection. The best of the flowering privets. Lower, denser habit than Ibota.

QUINCE, JAPAN (Cydonia Japonica). Most showy defensive hedge of spring. Bright scarlet flowers in May. Spreading spiny branches making strong low defence, growing six feet high. Do not prune too close. Subject to San Jose scale. Best defensive hedge for flower gardens.

ROSE, RUGOSA (Rosa rugosa). Best rose for hedge purposes growing right on the seaside. Much used in Newport, R. I. Flowers magenta to pure white, slightly fragrant, produced all summer. Large apple-like fruits. Grows three feet high and does not need shearing. Other roses for effect are Marie Pavie and other polyanthas. (See ROSES.) The native rose, R. lucida, is excellent for low border hedge, carrying fruits till winter. Should be cut back entirely every few years.

ROSE OF SHARON (Hibiscus Syriacus). Sturdiest and largest flowered hedge. Leafs late in spring. Blooms in August, September. Select good pink or white varieties. Prune in winter for profusion of flowers. Do not permit the plants to run up, leaving the base bare. Set 3 feet apart.

SPINDLE TREE (Euonymus Japonicus). South of Washington one of the best hedge plants, and does well in the North with shelter. The bright pink and orange fruits recall the bittersweet. A climbing variety (var. radicans) is an excellent evergreen vine and is hardy in New England. There are various colour variations in the foliage.

SPIREA, VAN HOUTTE'S (Spiraea Van Houttei). Best white-flowered hedge. Handsome foliage all summer. Good informal hedge and also especially suitable for formal gardens, as it does not run riot. Prune out old wood in summer immediately after flowering.

TAMARIX (Tamarix Gallica). Unexcelled for saline and alkaline soils, growing on the salt water's edge where nothing else will. Flowers feathery, pink, on old wood in the type; but on new wood in variety Narbonnensis. Foliage fine and feathery.


Click the book image to continue to the next chapter