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GARDEN GUIDE. .ZZ*,cT, 



GAEDEN" HOLLIES. 



( With Coloured Illustration.) 



Y the term " Garden Hollies," i3 to be understood those 

 that are peculiarly distinct and ornamental, and there- 

 fore best adapted for tlie embellishment of gardens. 

 Any and every holly has a claim of its own to our admi- 

 ration. But as there are about eighty varieties in 

 cultivation (at all events we have about that number, and believe 

 in the existence of a few more that we have not yet secured), the 

 amateur who has no taste for mere curiosities, will prefer a selection 

 to a collection, and it is part of our duty to advise upon the subject. 

 The common green holly {Ilex aquifoUuvi) is good enough for a 

 garden certainly, but we shall not include it in our selection, for 

 from our point of view it is a hedgerow and park tree, and should 

 not be planted in the garden in any quantity, for the simple 

 reason that hollies of a more decidedly ornamental character may 

 be found. If, turning from this, the cheapest and most common 

 of all hollies, to another which is not cheap and somewhat scarce — 

 namely, the variety named rotundifoUa — we should say that here 

 again is an undesirable holly, for though scarce and interesting it 

 is not beautiful. It is a botanist's or collector's holly, and for 

 decorative purposes is of the smallest value as compared with others 

 that are cheaper, as well as more beautiful. Some of our friends 

 will, perhaps, be surprised to learn, that when we have thrown out 

 the least beautiful of the varieties, there remain about sixty that 

 are so thoroughly good that it is quite a difficulty to reduce their 

 number. What a proof does this afford of the intrinsic value of the 

 holly as a garden tree ! It is indeed the noblest evergreen tree we 

 2 possess, and actually surpasses the ivy in the number of varieties 

 ^ that are really distinct and extremely beautiful. 



We must endeavour to get over the difficulty of eliminating the 

 J inferior sorts, so as to present to our readers the names of those 

 : J that are pre-eminently beautiful, and therefore most of all to be 

 >_ desired for garden purposes. We may consider them under four 

 < heads— 1. Green Hollies ; 2. Golden Hollies ; 3. Silver Hollies ; 4. 

 S Miscellaneous Hollies. 



January. 1 



