ON ORNAMENTAL PLANTING, 277 



The cedars require a more sheltered situation, and with that 

 indulgence, there are few places in Scotland in which they would 

 not grow. 



A great number of the evergreen shrubs may be easily and 

 quickly raised in Scotland. The spurge laurel, the common or 

 bay laurel, the Portugal laurel, and sweet scented bay laurel, 

 from which the poet gathers his wreath, will thrive in most sit- 

 uations. The last is more delicate ; but with a little care in se- 

 vere winters, it may be reared. The laurustinus grows almost 

 any where, and has the peculiar quality that it will, if the winter 

 be mild, be in bloom at that season. A variety with shining 

 leaves, lately introduced, will be found preferable. The straw- 

 berry tree, or arbutus fluedo ; the holly, and the evergreen thorn, 

 or mespilus pyracantha, with their deep blood-red berries, are 

 strikingly beautiful. Of the yew, the holly, and the evergreen- 

 privet, hedges can be formed, and they are most pleasing of all 

 objects to shelter our winter walks. The pyracantha, the ivy, 

 particularly the large-leaved Irish variety, the Pyrus japonica, 

 and the Rosa indica, which bloom in winter and early spring, 

 are well fitted for ornamenting walks. 



Of the American evergreens, several may be domesticated 

 with us, such as various species of rhododendron, and of kalmia, 

 all of which give an interest and beauty to our shrubbery. Many 

 of the smaller but not less beautiful evergreen plants, are to be 

 found ; as all the varieties of the periwinkle, with its pretty blue 

 flower ; the daplme, and the heaths. Of the last of these are 

 about twenty hardy varieties, fit to stand our climate, flowering 

 at different times of the year, and bearing a certain degree of 

 clipping with the shears. These are admirably adapted to form 

 the fringe or edging of the flower-garden ; much superior, from 

 their delicately formed flowers, to the box, as the present to the 

 eye a continued succession of varied colours. 



All the above mentioned evergreens are easily propagated. 

 Some of them, requiring a little nicety in managing the young 

 plants when raised from seeds, are more readily grown by slips, 

 or laying in the branches. With all these methods of raising 

 them every gardener is acquainted. 



Having described the means of ornamenting our residences 

 during winter, we have now to mention those plants by which 

 they may be embellished in the other seasons of the year ; and 

 for that purpose it is recommended to plant more of the flower- 



