74 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



sliirting the main walks, the variegated hollies are the noblest of all 

 the evergreen shrubs we possess, and their cheerful colours give a 

 most agreeable and chaste relief to the darker tones of most other 

 evergreen trees. 



Dapline Jaureola is not usually classed with the shrubs suitable 

 for town ; yet it ought to be, for it will grow anywdiere. Any soil, 

 any dark and unpromising position, provided it has shelter against 

 the cutting north-east winds that occur at the season when it pro- 

 duces its sweet-scented flowers, will suffice to make this, if left alone 

 a few years, one of the most beautiful ornaments of a town garden. 



This, and the deciduous species D. mezereum, are the only two 

 Daphnes that are weil adapted for any suburban districts within 

 three or four miles from St. Paul's. Beyond the four-mile circle, 

 D. Fioniana forms a charming dwarf shrub, with myriads of its rosy- 

 crimson flowers in spring. 



Enonymus Japonicus is a real townsman's friend. It may be 

 seen in all parts of London forming nice round peculiar-looking 

 bushes in the little forecourts where genuine gardeners are never 

 seen or heard of. Some of these trees are to be found six or seven 

 feet high, and on almost any day throughout the year they will be 

 found to present a better appearance than trees of the same kind 

 growing in the country. But to get this shrub to a height of six or 

 seven feet is a task requiring a combination of Job's patience with 

 Methuselah's longevity ; and most of those who are now planting 

 must be content with specimens two, three, and four feet high at 

 the iitmost, until they have passed at least their best days, and have 

 taken a turn down-hill. 



Our next subject is the Portugal Laurel. This is one of the 

 noblest evergreens we possess, a true promenade, lawn, and terrace 

 tree, and worth growing to the greatest possible dimensions, where 

 there happens to be room for fine specimens. It is much to be 

 regretted that the Portugal laurel requires a tolerably open posi- 

 tion, and a comparatively pure air. We shonld not think of plant- 

 ing it in any part of the City of London, or at any less distance 

 than at least one mile from the Bank ; but at that distance it is 

 perfectly safe if placed in a sunny open position on a generous soil, 

 and assisted during the summer with occasional washing of the 

 foliage by means of a shower from an engine. In the garden of the 

 Kensington Museum are some fine Portugal laurels in a perfect 

 state of health, and close by, in the society's garden, standard Por- 

 tugal laurels have been planted in considerable numbers, and are 

 doing well. We can call to mind many other good examples nearer 

 London than this, but we know no Portugal laurels worth the 

 ground they occupy within a mile of St. Paul's. 



The Common Laurel and the Sweet Bay are of the same com-' 

 paratively delicate nature as the Portugal laurel, but there is perhaps 

 no spot in which a tree of some kind would grow, however smoky, 

 but in which the sweet bay would live, if it did not present at all 

 times a classical appearance. It is, in fact, a very accommodating 

 tree, and if the circumstances are tolerably favourable to vegetation, 

 it may always be planted with a prospect of success. With the 



