FOEEIGN NOTICES. 



foi'eigo ^oilee^. 



Spring Flowers in the North of China. — In the north of China there are a number of plants 

 which have their flower-buds very prominently developed in autumn, so much so that they are 

 ready to burst into bloom before the winter has quite passed by, or, at all events, on the first 

 dawn of spring. Among these Jasminwn nudiflorum occupies a prominent position. Its yellow 

 blossoms, which it produces in great abundance, maybe seen not unfrequently peeping out from 

 among the snow, and reminds the stranger in these remote regions of the beautiful Primroses 

 and Cowslips which grow on the shaded banks of his own land. Nearly as early as this, the 

 pretty daisy-like Spircea priinifolla, the yellow Forsythia virklissima, the lilac Dapihne Fortuuei, 

 and the pink Judas tree, become covered with blossoms, and make our northern Chinese gardens 

 extremely gay. There are also some good Camellias which flower at this time, but they are 

 generally grown in pots under such shelter as mat sheds and other buildings of a like kind can 

 afford. The double-blossomed Peach, of which there are three very distinct varieties now in 

 England, are perhaps the gayest of all things which flower in early spring. Fancy, if you can, 

 trees fully as large as our Almond, literally loaded with rich colored blossoms, nearly as large 

 and double as Roses, and you will have some idea of the effect produced by these fine trees in 

 this part of the world. On the southwest side of Shanghae there are numerous Peach gardens 

 studded over the country. These are well worth a visit in the month of April, as the trees are 

 then in full bloom, and have a charming effect upon the landscape. It is iu this part of the 

 country where the celebrated Shanghae Peach is largely cultivated. On the graves, which are 

 here scattered over all the fields, and appear like huge mounds of earth, I observed many pretty 

 Violets in flower, both white and purple, but all nearly scentless. A little later in the season, 

 that is from the 20th of April to the beginning of May, another race of flowering shrubs and 

 herbaceous plants succeed those I have already named. The most conspicuous among them are 

 Viburnum macrocejjhalum and dUatatum, with their large heads of snow-white flowers ; Spinva 

 Reevcsiana, and the double variety, which is more beautiful than the original species; Wtigela 

 rosea, now well known in Europe ; Moutans of various hues of color; Azaleas, particularly the 

 lovely little "Amcena ;" Kerria Jnponica, the lilac and white Glycines, Roses, Dich/tra spcctubllis, 

 and Prhnula cortusoidcs. It will easily be believed that with such a host of Flora's beauties 

 these Chinese gardens must be gay indeed. But perhaps the most beautiful sight of all is the 

 Glycine sineyisis, climbing upon and hanging down from other trees. I believe I noticed in my 

 former " Notes" the fine effects produced by this climber wlien in such situations. I have again 

 observed numerous examples this spring, and can not help drawing attention once more to the 

 subject. The fine plant of this species upon the Chiswick garden wall is much and justly ad- 

 mired, but if j-ou will imagine a plant equall}- large, or in some instances much larger, attacliing 

 itself to a tree, or even a group of trees, entwining itself round the stems, running up every 

 branch, and weighing down every branchlet ; and, in the end of April or beginning of May, cov- 

 ered with flowers ; some faint idea may be formed of the fine effects produced b}' the Glycine in 

 its native country. I believe it would not succeed if managed in this way near London, or any- 

 where in the north ; but the experiment would be worth a trial in some parts of Europe, where 

 the summers are warmer than they are in England. As I know j'ou have man}- readers in the 

 Uiuted States of America who are as fond of their parks and gardens as we are of ours, and I 

 can not do better than recommend the experiment to tliein. Many of oiu* northern Cliinese 

 plants succeed admirably in America. China and America arc both situated on the eastern side 

 of large continents, they are equally liable to extremes of heat and cold, and consequently the 

 shrubs and trees of one country are almost certain to succeed as well in the other, provide 

 are reared in the same latitudes, and grown in the same kind of soil. — J\. F., in Hard. Ch 



