80 



Tlie Horticulturist and Journal 



Popnlar Flowering Shrubs. 



liV JOSIAH IIOOPES, IN THE INDEPENDENT. 



WE believe there lingers in the mind of 

 every dweller in the country, although 

 infinitesimally small in some, a desire for 

 rural adornment — some little natural land- 

 mark, as it were, to break the otherwise 

 desolate appearance of their dooryards. Do 

 not the ever-present clumps of Lilacs and 

 Snowballs afford ample evidence of this 

 latent taste, and is it not a proof that, if op- 

 portunity offered for culture in this direction, 

 there would be many a beautiful blossom 

 casting joy and gladness over those of our 

 households now slumbering in blissful igno- 

 rance of its very existence ? 



In the great multitude of varieties classed 

 under the expressive title of Flowering 

 Shrubs it becomes an exceedingly difficult 

 task to select a few suited to moderate 

 means. The great improvement made in 

 these plants of later years increases the 

 longing to possess them all ; as the greater 

 portion really combine the requisites of per- 

 fection — i. e., hardiness, profuseness of 

 bloom, distinct color, and adaptation to most 

 soils. 



A few remarks relating to the systems of 

 planting may not prove amiss. Two plans 

 were pursued by our grandfathers, or rather 

 our grandmothers, in decorating the little 

 space surrounding the house and conscien- 

 tiously hedged in by the whitest of white- 

 washed pales. The first and most con- 

 spicuous of these was the strictly mathemat- 

 ical style, where the space between every 

 tree, shrub and flower was measured as ac- 

 curately as if a hair's-breadth one way or 

 the other would be dollars out of their 

 pockets. The other plan is best explained 

 by terming it the crowded, incongruous style. 

 In this every available spot was set with a 

 plant or tree, as if the ground were too pre- 

 cious to be wasted. 



" Why," said an elderly lady of the old 

 school, lately, to a gentleman whose very 

 beautiful lawn had recently been planted 

 according to the naural style of grouping, 

 " don't you scatter your trees and plants all 



over the place ? They would show off so 

 much better? " 



This expresses the ancient idea of fitness 

 exactly — sacrificing beauty to mere show. 

 In arranging our shrubs, two essential ideas 

 must be kept prominently in view : the first, 

 as a matter of course, is to exhibit the bloom 

 as fully as possible ; and the other is to 

 arrange the plants with an eye to effect in- 

 dependent of the bloom. Many gardeners 

 neglect the former altogether, and more Oi. 

 our amateurs ignore the latter. 



A specimen shrub standing singly on the 

 lawn, provided it is in a proper position and 

 possesses some marked characteristic, is 

 capable of calling forth general admiration ; 

 but, as a general rule, flowering shrubs pre- 

 sent a much better appearance when 

 naturally grouped together, either three or 

 four in a clump or a larger number in a mass 

 or prolonged belt. In arranging these, 

 knowledge must be gained in advance as to 

 their size and habit, the color of the flowers, 

 and the period of their bloom. All this is 

 necessary to prevent forming a jumbled heap 

 of foliage, without order of arrangement. 



It has been said that every position of a tree 

 and plant, every curve in a walk, in fact, 

 every detail of our lawns should show of it- 

 self just why it was so constructed ; and 

 this is a lesson that very many of us have 

 yet to learn. 



In a small clump of say three or four plants 

 a pretty effect may be produced by using 

 one variety that is especially showy — as, for 

 instance, the great-flowered Hydrangea {H. 

 paniculata grandijlora) ; or it may embrace 

 as many different colors, all blooming about 

 the same season, but uniform in height and 

 general character. 



The most extensive belts and masses 

 should be so designed as to have the taller 

 and coarser species and varieties in the back, 

 gradually sloping down to the front ; or, if 

 out on the lawn, a large plant must consti- 

 tute the center, with those of smaller size 

 around the outer eJge. And do not make 

 the group too formal in its outline ; an undu- 

 lating margin pleases the eye far better than 



