76 



HORTICULTURE 



July 24. 1920 



SOME GOOD SHRUBS 



A List of Plants Recommended by Prof. C. S. Sargent 



Although notes are published year 

 after year in these Bulletins about new 

 or little known shrubs as they flower, 

 the Arboretum Is constantly asked for 

 lists of the best new shrubs for north- 

 ern gardens; and in response to this 

 request it now submits another list 

 of comparatively new plants. The 

 plants in this list are hardy in south- 

 ern New BJngland and the middle 

 states. The two Rhododendrons, how- 

 ever, cannot be grown in soil impreg- 

 nated with lime. Several of these 

 plants cannot, unfortunately, be found 

 in American nurseries; they are, how- 

 ever, easily propagated and a demand 

 lor them will in time produce a sup- 

 ply. 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 gard- 

 en-makers unfortunately neglect. The 

 plants selected today are: — Hamma- 

 melis mollis, Prinsepia sinensis. Cory- 

 lopsis Gotoana, Amelanchier grandi- 

 flora, Forsythia intermedia spectabilis, 

 Cotoneaster hupehensis, C. racemiflora 

 soongorica, C. nitens, C. multiflora cal- 

 ocarpa, Rosa Hugonis. Neillia sinensis, 

 Rhododendron Sclilippenbachil. R. ja- 

 ponicum. Berberis Vernae, Syringa 

 Sweginzowii. Spiraea Veitchii. Phila- 

 delphus purpurescens. and Evonymus 

 planipes. 



Like the other Witch Hazels of east- 

 ern Asia, Hammaraelis mollis blooms 

 in the winter and the flowers are not 

 injured by the : evere cold to which 

 they are subjected in the Arboretum. 

 This plant has handsome foliage and 

 larger and more brightly colored flow- 

 ers than the other Witch Hazels, and 

 is invaluable for the decoration of win- 

 ter gardens. Prinsepia sinensis is con- 

 sidered here the best shrub the Arbor- 

 etum has obtained from Manchuria. 

 It is valuable for its perfect hardiness, 

 the fact that Its dark .ijreen leaves un- 

 fold 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 yel- 

 low, early spring flowers in drooping 

 clusters which appear before the 

 leaves. There are several Japanese 

 and Chinese species 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 Forsythia of the list is still the 

 handsomest of the varieties of P. inter- 

 nieilia which is the general name of the 

 hybrids between F. suspensa Fortunei 

 and F. viridis. This variety was 

 raised in a Germany nursery and is 

 the handsomest of all the Forsythias 

 now known in gardens. Amelanchier 

 grandiflora is believed to be a hybrid 

 between the two arborescent species of 

 the eastern United States, A. canaden- 

 sis and A. laevls, and is by far the 

 liandsomest of the Amelanchiers in the 

 large Arboretum 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 

 ihe eastern states. 



The four Cotoneasters in the list ara 

 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 rod 

 flowers and black fruit. In recent 

 years the Arboretum has made tew 

 more important introductions for 

 .\merican gardens than the Chinese 

 Cotoneasters. 



Although no longer a "new plant" 

 Rosa Hugouls is included in this list 

 because 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. Fortunately for American 

 garden-makers the value of this Rose 

 is appreciated by a few American nurs- 

 erymen from whom it can now be ob- 

 tained. 



The introduction of Neillia sinensis 

 made it possible to add to the Arbor- 

 etum collection a representative of a 

 genus of the Rose Family which had 

 not before been cultivated in the .Arbor- 

 etum. 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. 

 Xeillia sinensis, however, has never 

 been injured by cold, and with its 

 drooping clusters of pink flowers is a 

 handsome plant well worth a place in 

 any garden. 



Rhododendron (Azalea) Schlippen- 

 bachii •'; one of the most important 

 introductions of recent years. A na- 

 tive of northern Korea, it grows fur- 

 ther north and in a colder country than 



any other .Vzalea, 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 hardly fur- 

 ther north than the American species 

 with the exception of Rhodora. The 

 large pale pink flowers of this Azalea, 

 although less showj' than those of a 

 few of the other species, are more deli- 

 cately boautiful than those of <iay 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 yeirs In 

 til these are large enough to flower it 

 will probably remain extremely rare. 



Rhododendron (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 under- 

 stood 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. 



Berberis Vernae 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 grace- 

 ful habit among Barberries, with arch- 

 ing and drooping branches from which 

 hang innumerable slender clusters of 

 small yellow flowers followed by small 

 red fruits. Berberis Vernae has proved 

 the handsomest of the large number of 



Horticultural Books 



For Sale by 



HORTICCLTUBE FUBLISHINQ CO. 



Chrysanthemum Manual. Elraer 



D. Smith $0.69 



The Chrysanthemum. Herring- 

 ton 50 



Commercial Carnation Culture. 



Dlcli 1.60 



Commercial Rose Culture. 



Holmes 1.60 



Violet Culture. Galloway 1.60 



Greenltonse Construction. Taft.. 1.60 

 Sweet Peas up U> l>ate. Kerr... 1.50 

 Plant Propagation, Greenhouse 



and Nursery Practice. Kalns.. 2.00 



Plant Pruning. Kalns 2.00 



Book of Garden Plans. Hamblln. 2.00 



Landscape Desisn. Hubbard 6.00 



The Art of Outdoor Rose Grow- 

 ing. Thomas 6.00 



The Home Vegetable Garden. 



Kruhm 1.00 



Vegetable Gardening. R. L. 



Watts 1.75 



Parsons on The Rose 1.00 



Principles of Floricultore. B. A. 



White 1.76 



Foundations of American Grape 



Culture. Munson 2.00 



Plant Materials of Decorative 



Gardening. Trelease 1.00 



Aristocrats of the Garden. Wil- 

 son 6.00 



Bailey's Cyclopedia of Horticul- 

 ture. 6 Tolumes 42.00 



