June 17, 1875. ] 



JOUBNAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



465 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Dny Day 



of I ol 

 Month Week. 



17 



18 

 19 

 20 

 21 

 2^ 



Th 



F 



S 



Sns 



M 



To 



W 



JUNE 17—23, 1875. 



Royal Society at 8.30 p.m. Grand Floral FOte at York. 

 Exeter Rose Show. 



4 Sunday after Trinity. 

 Longest Day. 



Geological Society at 8 p.m. 



Moon ■ Mood 

 KiseB. Sets. 



m. h I 

 42 af7 ! 



Moan's 

 Age. 



Davs. 

 14 

 • 

 16 

 17 

 18 

 19 

 20 



Clnck 

 before 

 bnn. 



82 



45 

 e 58 



1 11 

 1 24 

 1 87 

 1 60 



I>av 



ol 



Year. 



1C8 

 1(10 

 17U 

 171 

 172 

 173 

 174 



488- 



From observations takea near London daring forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 72.7^^ ; and its night temperatu e 



CHOICE SPRING FLOWERS. 



PRING flowers h.ave been treated upon ia 

 the .Tournal so oftea and so well that the 

 subject might not unreasonably be con- 

 sidered eshausted. There is, however, an 

 important class of plants which by some 

 strange inadvertence have hitherto remained 

 comparatively unnoticed — I mean dwarf 

 flowering shrubs, which for their low com- 

 pact growth and great intrinsic beauty cer- 

 tainly merit the best attention and care, and 

 a much more promiaent position than has yet been given 

 them. 



Take, for example, the Sun Rose (Helianthemum), what 

 can be more beautiful ? and yet how seldom ia it met with ? 

 It comes readily from seed, and the seedlings of both sec- 

 tions soon grow to a considerable size — those of stiff erect 

 habit forming compact bushes about 3 feet high and as 

 much through, bearing a profusion of flowers in May and 

 .June of various shades of pink, purple, yellow, and white ; 

 and the more dwarf section forming dense spreading 

 cushions of about a foot bigh, also flowering in May and 

 .Tune, the colours ranging through a variety of shades, 

 such as pale primrose, bright yellow, rich orange, deep 

 rose, crimson, pink, and white. They are as suitable for 

 vases, beds, and borders as for rockwork, upon which 

 they are usually found. 



Andromeda floribunda is another valuable shrub of 

 dwarf spreading habit, better known, perhaps, than the 

 Helianthemums, but which, like them, is not cultivated 

 BO extensively as it ought to be. It is true that a solitary 

 plant of it may occasionally be seen in the fringe of 

 Khododendron beds, or a few pot plants in early forcing 

 houses ; but the fine effect of large masses of the pretty 

 Heath-like blossom, which it puts forth in April, does not 

 yet appear to be understood. A. Catesboei, which comes 

 into flower about a mouth later than floribunda, is of a 

 somewhat more straggling habit of growth ; it is a distinct 

 and beautiful species. The foliage and bark of the young 

 growth are of a deep red colour. The full beauty of the 

 panicles of white flowers often remains unnoticed, espe- 

 cially upon young plants, as the flowers cluster so thickly 

 and heavily upon the tips of the flexile shoots as to bend 

 them down almost to the ground. 



The Pernettyas put forth their flowers almost simul- 

 taneously with the Andromedas ; the narrow-leaved kind, 

 P. angustifolia, is an interesting and ornamental plant, 

 growing about 2 feet high, bearing a profusion of spikes 

 of minute white flower bells ; in May and June and 

 afterwards having pretty clusters of crimson berries, 

 which remain in charming contrast to the evergreen 

 foliage for several months ; thus taking as high a rank 

 among berry-bearing plants in autumn and winter as it 

 does among flowering shrubs in spring. P. mucronata is 

 a much bolder variety, having comparatively large foliage, 

 and reaching a height of 5 or G feet. It is a handsome 

 shrub. 

 Spiraea Thnnbergii is one of the brightest gems of April 



No 712 —Vol.. XXVIII., New SEErES. 



and the early part of May ; it is a dwarf variety, the 

 slight flexile growth, clothed with soft feathery foliage and 

 springing directly upwards from the crown, does not attain 

 a greater height than 2 feet. It has a graceful appearance, 

 and when in flower it is so crowded with pretty white 

 blossom that the shoots bend over each other in the most 

 charming manner, and are then literally such wreaths 

 as we covet for our bright May garlands. There are 

 other early-flowering species of this lovely and extensive 

 genera, such as the pink kinds Nobleaua and laevigata, 

 and the white ariiefolia ; but none of them to my mind 

 are at all to be compared either for beauty or utility with 

 my favourite Thunbergii. 



Daphne cneorum, sweetest of all the Daphnes, is an 

 old and general favourite of such great excellence that it 

 must not be omitted here. Growing luxuriantly in ex- 

 posed situations it yields a profusion of its deep pink 

 richly-scented flowers in April, and it also forms a charm- 

 ing feature in the early-forcing house in pots, bearing 

 forcing well, but with the flowers of a paler hue than 

 when seen in the open air. 



Azalea amcena, the rosy-purple Chinese Azalea, is very 

 beautiful when laden with its cheerful flowers in May. 

 It is a distinct and most interesting species — just one of 

 those gems that are worthy of a place in every garden. 



Kalmia glauca is another interesting little shrub, form- 

 ing compact bushes of about 2 feet high that are bright 

 from April to June with pretty flowers of a deep pur- 

 pUsh-red hue. Its minute growth and abundant blossom 

 render it a very suitable plant to occupy many an odd 

 nook and corner in rockeries and shrubbery borders, as 

 well as to form a fringe to kindred plants of more lofty 

 gi-owth. 



Mixed beds of shrubs of the kinds I have selected and 

 some others have proved so interesting and ornamental 

 as to induce mc to append a note descriptive of the most 

 effective method of arrangement. Taking a circular bed 

 of, say, 20 feet in diameter, I would devote the centre 

 chiefly to Rhododendrons, leaving a border 4 feet wide 

 for the mixed shrubs. Among the Rhododendrons there 

 should be some Tritomas, Liliums, Gladioli, and the 

 yellow ffinothcra gigantea to brighten the centre with 

 their gay flowers after the shrub flowers have faded. In 

 the border the dwarf kinds of Sun Rose would find a 

 place near the edge with Daphne cneorum ; the taller 

 varieties standing back among such plants as Berberis 

 dulcis and B. stenopbylla, the Kalmias glauca, angusti- 

 folia, and nana. Erica mediterranea, the Pernettyas, 

 Spiraeas, Skimmias, Erica carnea, and Gaultherias, all 

 being blended together and placed according to their 

 respective heights, interspersed with a few select kinds of 

 Iris, Solomon's Seal, clumps of Anemone coronaria and 

 Lily of the Valley, with such spring bulbs and choice 

 perennial plants as taste or fancy may suggest. 



Cut the bed in halves, and you have an arrangement 

 of the best kind for a proj(?eting sweep, or in fact any 

 part of a shrubbery border. The materials are choice, 

 perfectly hardy, of easy culture, and the novelty of the 

 arrangement, differing as it does from the stereotyped and 



No. 1394.— Vol. LIII., Ou) Series. 



