THE FLORAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 75 



common laurel it is otherwise. Plant it on a good sound loam, not 

 nearer to London than the three-mile circle, and it grows with 

 immense vigour ; plant it in any soil — no matter how good — in the 

 midst of houses, and where soot is plentifully deposited, and it 

 becomes an obnoxious mass of sticks, with a few ragged leaves 

 fluttering about them. The common laurel is not a high-class 

 shrub under any circumstances. It makes a fine hedge, and is one 

 of the best of the shrubs for a screen. It is not to be despised as a 

 clothing for a fence, or wall ; but in a mixed shrubbery, or on the 

 borders adjoining lawns, it can scarcely be considered appropriate, 

 for it always suggests that there is something to be hidden. 



The Oolchican Lcmrel differs considerably from the common 

 laurel in its larger and more tapering leaves. It is in every sense 

 richer both in character and colour, and it happens also to be some 

 degrees hardier than its congener ; therefore, where it is desired to 

 have plantations of laurel, and they are found not to thrive, the 

 Colchican laurel should be tried, and there will be the^e advantages 

 in favour of the experiment, that it is a much finer species, and much 

 more adaptable and accommodating in habit. 



Let us not forget the high claims of the Fidllyreas upon town 

 gardeners. What a magnificent appearance does a fine specimen 

 — say twenty feet high and as much through — of P. illicifolia 

 present ! The glossy dark green, neatly formed, and abundant 

 foliage of the PJjillyreas renders them quite classical in character, 

 and though they will not endure to be planted under the shade of 

 trees, or very near to high walls, they only require a tolerably good 

 position, and they bear any amount of smoke with the utmost 

 patience. There are three species in common use; the one just 

 named, which has holly-like leaves, is the best, but P. angiistifolia^ 

 with smaller leaves and a less robust habit, and P. latifoUa, with 

 broader leaves, are both beautiful and useful. 



The Lauristinus, or Vihurnum tinus, is an exquisitely beautiful 

 shrub when grown to a large size and full of bloom. But who can 

 grow it to a large size and full of bloom in London, or in any other 

 great town of this kingdom ? No one. In southern and western 

 counties it is a grand subject for winter flowers ; but in Middlesex, 

 and thence away north, it can never be depended on to expand its 

 flowers, though it tantalizes its possessor with the off'er of thousands 

 in the bud every year. It is rather impatient of smoke, but not so 

 much 80 that any Londoner need fear to plant it on that account ; 

 but in tiie event of a hard winter, it is one of the first of evergreens 

 to sufl'er, and in an extreme case — as, for instance, ISGO 61 — it is 

 pretty sure to be killed to the ground. But let us tell the lovers of 

 fine shrubs and easily-obtained winter flowers what to do with 

 Viburnum tinus. Grow a dozen, fifty, a hundred, as many as you 

 can find room for in pots. In ten-inch pots fine specimens may be 

 grown. They should be purchased now, and be potted firm in a 

 mixture of three parts strong turfy loam and one part rotten dung. 

 Plunge them in a bed of coal-ashes or cocoa-nut dust, and give 

 plenty of water till the middle of July ; afcer that do not give a 

 drop. Some time about the middle of October, or earlier, remove 



