for March, 1921 



501 



Some New Shrubs for Northern Gardens 



THE plants in this list are hardy in southern New- 

 England and the Middle States. The two Rhodo- 

 dendrons, however, cannot be grown in soil im- 

 pregnated with lime. Several of these plants cannot, un- 

 fortunately, be found in American nurseries ; they are, 

 however, easily propagated and a demand for them will 

 in time produce a supply. The list contains the 

 names of eighteen of "the best" new shrubs; it might 

 easily be increased to a hundred for there is a large 

 number of new or little known shrubs now growing 

 in the Arboretum which American garden-makers 

 unfortunately neglect. The plants selected today are: 

 Hamamclis )nollis, Prinscpia sinensis, CoryJopsis Go- 

 toaim, Amclanchicr grandiflora, forsytliia intenncdia 

 spectabilis, Cotoncastcr hupchcnsis, C. raccrniftora soon- 

 gorica, C. nitens, C. multiflora calncarpa, Rosa Hugonis, 

 Ncillia sinensis, Rhododendron Schlippenbachii, R. japon- 

 iciim, Berberis Vernec, Syringa Sweginsoivii, Spircea 

 Veitchii, Philadelpluis purpurcscens, and Euonymus 

 planipcs. 



Like the other \\'itch Hazels of eastern Asia, Ham- 

 amelis mollis blooms in the \A'inter and the flowers are 

 not injured by the severe cold to which they are subjected 

 in the Arboretum. This plant has handsome foliage and 

 larger and more brightly colored flowers than the other 

 Witch Hazels, and is invaluable for the decoration of 

 Winter gardens. Prinsepia sinensis is considered here the 

 best shrub the Arboretum has obtained from Manchuria. 

 It is valuable for its perfect hardiness, the fact that its 

 dark green leaves unfold before those of any other shrub 

 in the Arboretum, with the exception of those of a few 

 Willows, and for its innumerable clear yellow flowers 

 which open before the leaves are fully grown. The stems 

 of this shrub are armed with stout spines and it should 

 make a good hedge plant. Corylopsis. which is an Asiatic 

 genus related to the Witch Hazels, has handsome yellow, 

 early Spring flowers in drooping clusters which appear 

 before the leaves. There are several Japanese and Chi- 

 nese sj>ecies in the Arboretum but only the Japanese 

 C. Gotoana has been uninjured here by the cold of recent 

 years, and it is the only species which can be depended 

 on to flower every year in a Massachusetts garden. The 

 Forsytliia of the list is still the handsomest of varieties 

 of F. intermedia which is the general name of the hybrids 

 between /•". siispensa Fortunei and F. z'i7-idis. This va- 

 riety was raised in a ("lernian nursery and is the hand- 

 somest of all the Forsythias now known in gardens. 

 Amelanchier grandiflora is believed to be a hybrid be- 

 tween the two arborescent species of the eastern United 

 States, A. canadensis and A. Icevis, and is by far the 

 handsomest of the Amelanchiers in the large .\rboretum 

 collection of these plants. It came here from Europe 

 but what is believed to be the same hybrid has been found 

 in several places in the eastern states. The four Coton- 

 easters in the list are perhaps the handsomest of the 

 twenty odd species introduced by Wilson from western 

 China. They are all large shrubs of graceful habit, and 

 have white flowers and red fruits with the exception of 

 G. nitens which h?.s red flowers and black fruit. In 

 recent years the Arboretum has made few more im- 

 portant introductions for .American gardens than the 

 Chinese Cotoneasters. Although no longer a "new plant" 

 Rosa Hugonis is included in this list hecatise it is not 

 only the handsomest of the Roses discovered in China dur- 

 ing the last quarter of a century, but in the judgment of 

 many persons it is the most beautiful of all Roses with 

 single flowers. I'ortnnatelv for .-Vmerican garden-makers 



the value of this Rose is appreciated by a few American 

 nurserymen from whom it can now- be obtained. The in- 

 troduction of Neillia sinensis made it possible to add to 

 ihe Arboretum collection a representative of a genus of 

 the Rose F'amily which had not before been cultivated in 

 the Arboretum. There are now other species of Neillia 

 grown here but some of them are not entirely hardy, and 

 others have no particular value as garden plants. Neillia 

 sinetisis, how-ever, has never been injured by cold, and with 

 its drooping clusters of pink flowers is a handsome plant 

 w-ell worth a place in any garden. Rhododendron {Aza- 

 lea) Schlippenbachii is one of the most important intro- 

 ductions of recent years. A native of northern Korea, it 

 grows further north and in a colder country than any 

 other Azalea, with the exception of the Rhodora, and 

 there can be little doubt that it can be grown successfully 

 in the open ground much further north in the eastern 

 United States than any of the other Asiatic Azaleas. It 

 may be expected, too, to prove hardy further north than 

 the American species with the exception of Rhodora. The 

 large pale pink flowers of this Azalea, although less 

 showy than those of a few of the other species, are more 

 delicately beautiful than those of any of the Azaleas which 

 have proved hardy in the Arboretum. There are a few 

 plants of this Azalea large enough to flower in the United 

 States, and many seedlings have been raised here and in 

 Europe during the last two years. Until these are large 

 enough to flower it will probably remain extremely rare. 

 Rhododendron (Azalea) japonieum cannot be called a 

 new plant for it has been grow-ing in the Arboretum since 

 1893, but it is such a valuable plant and is still so little 

 known or understood that it can perhaps properly find a 

 place in a list like this. The large, orange or flame-col- 

 ored flowers make it when in bloom one of the showiest 

 of all hardy Azaleas. Berberis Verncc has been men- 

 tioned in a recent number of these Bulletins ; and it is 

 only necessary to repeat what has already been said 

 about it, that it is a hardy plant of exceptionally graceful 

 habit among Barberries, w-ith arching and drooping 

 branches from which hang innumerable slender clusters 

 of small yellow flowers followed by small red fruits. 

 Berberis Vernce has proved the handsomest of the large 

 number of Barberries w-ith deciduous leaves found by 

 Wilson in western China. Among the numerous species 

 of Lilacs introduced into gardens from China during re- 

 cent years Syringa Szccginzozini is considered the most 

 beautiful by many persons. It is a tall shrub with slen- 

 der erect stems which produce every year great quantities 

 of pale rose-colored, fragrant flowers in long rather nar- 

 row clusters. It has the merit of being almost the last of 

 the Lilacs in the Arboretum collection to bloom. Spircea 

 I'eitchii has the merit, too, of being the last of the white- 

 flowered Spiraeas to flower. It is a shrub already 6 or 8 

 feet tall in the Arboretum, with numerous slender stems 

 and gracefully arching branches which about the first of 

 July are covered from end to end with broad flower-clus- 

 ters raised on slender erect stems. This Spiraea is one 

 of the best of the hardy shrubs discovered by Wilson in 

 western China, and by many persons it is considered the 

 handsomest of the genus as it is now represented in the 

 Arboretum. Euonymus planipcs is a native of northern 

 Japan and a large shrub with large dark green leaves and 

 the inconspicuous flowers of the genus ; and it is only on 

 account of the beauty of its fruit that this plant is in- 

 cluded in this list, for the fruit which hangs gracefully 

 on long slender stems is large, crimson, very histrous and 

 more showy than that of any of the other Burning Bushes 

 in the Arboretum. — Arnold Arboretum Bulletin. 



