THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 27 



vigour, its bonnj colouring, and its independence and glorious individuality — tlie 

 sentinel of the woods. 



The following viirieties of Ilex aquifolium are very prolific of berries — namely, 

 hybrida, the leaves broad and green ; ovata, leaves oval, thick, liabit compact, one 

 of the most beautiful in every way ; Hendersonii, dull, dark leaves, very fine ; 

 senescens, broad, smooth leaves, almost spineless, one of the best for smoky districts; 

 Fisheri, very sliowy, and a fast grower, leaves smooth, dark green. Tlie smallest- 

 leaved and the largest-leaved vai'ieties appear to be equally shy of producing 

 berries, though amongst them are several that for beauty of growth and foliage can 

 scarcely be equalled by any other shrubs in our gardens. Among the variegated 

 kinds, recurva variegata, flammea angustifolia, flava, anrea myrtifolia, aurea 

 pumila, and bicolor, which all belong to the gold-leaved section, are invaluable 

 both for tlieir splendid foliage, their tine compact habits, and the abundance of their 

 scarlet berries. Suppose we had just twelve each of these six sorts, the plants to 

 average three feet high and three ieet through, all in 1'2-inch pots, what sort of a 

 display- would they make if plunged in a circular bed close under the drawing- 

 room windows ? Perhaps it might be hard to find a bed large enough to hold them, 

 for a dozen would be enough to light up a bed fifteen feet in diameter filled with 

 dark green shrubs of such kinds of deodaras, euonymus, tree box, etc. In the silver 

 section, alba picta, ferox argentea, lucida, and argentia latifolia are the best both 

 for leaves and berries. The gold-leaved kinds are, however, the most valuable in all 

 suburban gardens ; and, indeed, the silver kinds should never be planted extensively, 

 except in very pure air. 



I shall now ask your consideration of the Cotoneae-teks as berry -bearing shrubs. 

 I am acquainted with eiahteen species, but I believe there are more than eighteen 

 in the country. Our old friend 0. microphylla is undoubtedly the most valuable of 

 the family for all ordinary purposes. Considered in connection with the plunging 

 system, they are most unsatisfactory plants, for the best of them, as regards habit 

 and colour, happen to be deciduous, and consequently we lose their best characters 

 at the very moment when we require them to be iu their full beauty. The truly 

 evergreen kinds, such as microphylla, have berries less brilliantly coloured than the 

 deciduous kinds, and there is not one that can be described as eminently valuable 

 for the embellishment of the garden. However, let us make the best of them ; and 

 what can we wish for better in a conspicuous part of a i-ockery than a few sprawling 

 plants of C. micropliylla, with its quaint, almost bramble-like growth, its dense dark 

 green leafage, and its plenitude of dull red fiuit. Grafted on the thorn at four or 

 five feet high, it makes a very curious and effective standard, and will do well for a 

 lawn on which Cai-aganas and other shrubs of curious rigid habit have place. 

 Though not quite all that is desired for the plunging system, you may judge by the 

 specimens before you, which are neat, upright bushes, similar in outline to Irish 

 yews, that it is, at all events, useful, and the colour of its berries renders it accep- 

 table amongst ordinary evergreens to warm large masses. The way in which the 

 plants on the table are grown to the compact, pyramidal form which they present is 

 simply by closely pruning back the long angular branches that are formed in the 

 summer ; if they are not pruned, they soon become unmanageable as pot plants, as 

 the branches shoot down below the rim of the pot, and they lose all symmetry and 

 character. Tliere are examples here, too, of C. acuminta, C. rotundifolia, C. affinis, 

 (frigida), and C. uniflora. Of the first two it may be said that, amongst hardy 

 shrubs bearing red berries at this season, there are very few to compare with them 

 as to the size and abundance and brilliant colour of the berries ; but they lose all 

 their leaves with the frost, and, like many other good species, are greatly reduced in 

 value thereby. They, however, make useful pot plants to mix with groups lor the 

 sake of their berries only, and, like microphylla, require close pruning in, on 

 account of their strong, irregular growth. In the shrubbery, C. frigida forms a 

 glorious bush. C. acuminta is a most valuable kind, and, were it evergreen, would 

 be invaluable. On the table are small plants raised from seed sown in the winter of 

 1863 ; they now average eighteen inches to two feet Jiigh, and are well covered with 

 berries. Plants of this species may be raised by thousands by this simple method, 

 and when planted rotind the boirudaries of rhododendron clumps, and in the front 

 lines of shrubberies, they have a most beautiful appearance all winter, as the berries 

 remain bright until the new growth begins in spring. For terrace gardens and for 

 lawns, where trees of formal aspect are admissible, standards of this species are 

 well worth having. I have placed on the table a standard five feet high, with a 



