676 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



SOME NEW SHRUBS FOR NORTHERN 

 GARDENS 



I'lie plants in this list are hardy in southern New Eng- 

 land and the middle states. The two Rhododendrons, 

 however, cannot be grown in soil impregnated with lime. 

 Several of these plants cannot, unfortunately, be found in 

 American nur.series ; 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-mak- 

 ers unfortunately neglect. The plants selected today are : 

 HautmamcUs moUis, Prliiscpia sincmis, Corylopsis Go- 

 toana, Amclanchicr grandiflom, Forsythia intermedia 

 spcciahiUs, Cotoncaster hupehcnsis, C. racemiflora soon- 

 gorica, C. nitcns, C. midtiflora calocarpa, Rosa Hugonis, 

 Neillia sinensis, Rhododendron Schlippenbachii, R. japon- 

 icum. Berheris Vcrncc, Syringa Su'egincoiuii, Spiraa 

 Veitchii. Philadelphiis piirpurascens, and Euonymus 

 planipes. 



Like the other Witch Hazels of eastern Asia, Hani- 

 mamclis mollis blooms in the Winter and the flowers are 

 not injured by the severe cold to which they are sub- 

 jected in the Arboretum. This plant has handsome foli- 

 age and larger and more brightly colored flowers than 

 the other Witch Hazels, and is invaluable for the decora- 

 tion 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 

 farr f-ter itfT^darlr 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. Corylop- 

 sis, 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 Chinese species in the Arbore- 

 tum but only the Japanese C. Gotoana has been unin- 

 jured 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 Forsythia of the list is 

 still the handsomest of the varieties of F. intermedia 

 which is the general name of the hybrids between F. 

 siispcnsa Foriunei and F. viridis. This variety was 

 raised in a German nursery and is the handsomest of all 

 the Forsythias now known in gardens. Ainelanchicr 

 granditlora is believed to be a hybrid between the two 

 arborescent species of the eastern United States. . . . 

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

 of the Amelanchiers in the large Arboretum collection of 

 these plants. It came here from Europe but what is be- 

 lieved to be the same hybrid has been found in several 

 places in the eastern states. The four Cotoneasters 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 C. nitens 

 which has red flowers and black fruit. In recent 

 vears the Arboretum has made few more important 

 introductions for American gardens than the Chinese 

 Cotoneasters. Although no longer a "new plant" 

 Rosa Hngonis is inchided in this list because it is 

 not only the handsomest of the Roses discovered in 

 China during the last quarter of a century, but in the 

 judgment fif manv persons it is the most beautiful of all 



Roses with single flowers. Fortunately for American 

 garden-makers the value of this Rose is appreciated by a 

 few American nurserymen from whom it can now be ob- 

 tained. The introduction of Neillia sinensis made it pos- 

 sible to add to the Arboretum collection a representative 

 of a genus of the Rose Fainily which had not before been 

 cultivated in the Arboretum. There are now other species 

 of Neillia grown here but soine of them are not entirely 

 hardv, and others have no particular value as garden 

 plants. Neillia sinensis, however, has never been injured 

 Ijy cold, and with its drooping clusters of pink flowers is 

 a handsome plant well worth a place in any garden. 

 Rhododendron {Azalea) Schlippenbachii is one of the 

 most important introductions of recent years. A native 

 of northern Korea, it grows further north and in a 

 colder country than anv other Azalea, with the excep- 

 tion 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 seedhngs have been raised here and in Europe dur- 

 ing the last two years. Until these are large enough to 

 flower it will probably remain extremely rare. Rhododen- 

 dron (Azalea) japonicum cannot be called a new plant 

 for it has been growing 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-colored 

 flowers make it when in bloom one of the showiest of all 

 the hardy Azaleas. Bcrbcris Verncc has been mentioned 

 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, with arching and drooping branches 

 from which hang innumerable slender clusters of small 

 yellow flowers followed by small red fruits. Berberis 

 Verna has proved the handsomest of the large number 

 of Barberries with deciduous leaves found by Wilson in 

 western China, Among the numerous species of Lilacs 

 introduced into gardens from China during recent years 

 Syringa Sziieginzozt'ii is considered the most beautiful by 

 many persons. It is a tall shrub with slender erect stems 

 which produce every year great Cjuantities of pale rose- 

 colored, fragrant flowers in long rather narrow cluster. 

 It has the merit of being almost the last of the Lilacs in 

 the Arboretum collection to bloom. Spircca Veitchii has 

 the merit, too, of being the last of the white-flowered 

 Spirccas 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-clusters 

 raised on slender erect stems. This Spirjea is one of the 

 best of the hardy shrubs discovered by Wilson in western 

 China, and by many persons it is considered the hand- 

 somest of the genus as it is now represented in the 

 Arboretum, Euonymus planipes is a native of northern 

 Japan and a large shrub with large dark green leaves and 

 the incons]iicuous flowers of the genus ; and it is onlv 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 lustrous and 

 more showy than that of any of the other Burning Bushes 

 in the .\rhoretum. — Arnold Arboretum Riillrtin. 



