REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR. 



43 



2. Woody Caragana. Caraganafrutescens. — This is one of a family of most useful 

 and desirable shrubs the most familiar member of which is the Siberian pea tree, 

 Caragana arborescens, which is referred to under ornamental hedges (No. 1). Caragana 



frutescens is also a native of Siberia, but is a less rapid grower and rarely grows higher 

 than 3 to 4 feet, while the Siberian pea tree attains, under favourable conditions, in a 

 few years a height of 10 to 12 feet or more. C. frutescens also produces flowers more 

 abundantly and the individual flowers are larger. It is a most attractive object when 

 in bloom as the whole bush is thickly covered with bright yellow pea shaped flowers. 

 The flowers open early in the season and are succeeded by small green seed pods which, 

 when approaching ripeness, change to a dull reddish colour and when fully ripe they 

 burst and the seeds are scattered. This desirable shrub is easily raised from seed which 

 may be sown in the autumn as soon as fully ripe, or early in the spring. 



3. Large Flowered Variegated Weigelia Diervilla grandiflora variegata. — The 

 cultivated weigelias which are now referred by botanists to the genus Diervilla are 

 among the most beautiful flowering shrubs in cultivation. The large flowered weigelia 

 is a native of Japan — a country which has given us in recent times many beautiful 

 shrubs and flowers. The foliage on the ordinary form of this shrub is green, but in the 

 variegated form, to which reference is here specially made, the leaves are beautifully 

 margined with white which makes it a most attractive object on the lawn at all seasons 

 of the year. When in bloom the flowers are so profuse that much of the foliage is 

 hidden. The flowers are white shaded with rose and are funnel shaped at the base, 

 they are produced in axillary and terminal clusters. Fig. 4 shows one of these shrubs 



Fig. 4. — Variegated Weigelia. 



in bloom, a specimen in the arboretum at the Experimental Farm. Most of the weigelias 

 are tender in this climate, and the branches are killed back every winter, half way or 

 more to the ground. This winter killing may be partially prevented by protecting 

 these shrubs during the winter with a wrapping of straw or evergreen branches. The 

 variegated form has been hardier with us than any of the others and has never been 

 protected. From the figure it will be seen that this bush flowered well in 1894, nearly 

 to the tips. It is easily propagated from cuttings. 



4. Van Houtte's Spirsea. Spiraa Van Houttei. — This charming spiraea is a 

 fitting companion to the weigelia just referred to on account of the abundance of bloom 



