112 HOW TO PLAN THE HOME GROUNDS 



In the case of shrubs and trees beautifully colored in 

 autumn, this scenic effect merges easily into the natural, 

 because the purple and red and gold are mingled with 

 the green, and all nature, in dropping her royal robes, 

 runs through the entire gamut of color from glowing 

 crimson to dull browns and grays, and consequently no 

 bizarre, inharmonious, and abnormal effects are suggested, 

 any more than they would be in the weird changes of 

 decay and death in other portions of Nature's organism. 



The barberries furnish an illustration of the superior 

 value of the green over the purple, and, strange to say, 

 the very habit of the green form is less stiff and more 

 graceful than the purple ; the abnormal color seems to 

 predict a certain stiffness, dwarfness, or otherwise un- 

 natural variation of the original form of the plant. Small- 

 ness, on the other hand, does not imply dwarfness, which 

 conveys a distinct sense of the abnormal, for the best, 

 and certainly a quite natural looking barberry, is the 

 Japanese species, berberis thunbergii; the entire plant 

 is constructed on a small but very effective scale. Its 

 height at maturity, generally in this country only four or 

 five feet, is moderate ; its leaves, flowers, and berries are 

 all small, and the shading of its glossy leaves, from June 

 to October, through the varying tints of green and 

 deep red, is refined and delicate. Being hardy and 

 easily transplanted, and comparatively free from disease, 

 it readily takes rank among the few shrubs that should 

 be considered indispensable on every lawn. 



There are, we must always remember, certain shrubs 

 which at first sight are not particularly interesting, 

 and possibly a little coarse, but which, on further ac- 

 quaintance, prove to blend picturesquely and harmoni- 

 ously in combination with other shrubs on the lawn. The 



