TIMELY TOPICS FOR THE AMATEUR. 



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Fh;. 20b: 



WkIGKLIA RdSEA. 



with a sharp knife here and there at different 

 parts of the plant, the most prominent and 

 straggling sprays or branches, the plant can 

 be made to assume a shapely and natural 

 appearance. The sprays or branches thus 

 removed, will not only leave the plant in a 

 more symmetrical condition than before, but 

 the sprays will be found very useful and pretty 

 for indoor decorative purposes. Care must 

 be taken, however, in thinning out the 

 sprays or branches, not to cut out too much 

 of the growth of any one part of the plant, 

 so that the beauty or shape of the plant will 

 be marred or disfigured by the operation. 

 By observing closely when and where the 

 flower producing growth of the plant springs 

 from, even the most inexperienced amateur 

 can thin out almost any of the flowering 

 shrubs mentioned when they are in flower, 

 without spoiling the appearance of the plant. 

 So little attention, however, do most of the 



dwarfer growing flowering shrubs require, 

 that it is better not to attempt to prune 

 them at all, than to disfigure and render 

 them useless as decorative plants, by the use 

 of the clipping shears, as is so often the case. 

 The little pruning and care that flowering 

 shrubs require is generally recommended to 

 be done during late autumn or early spring. 

 The summer pruning process, however, that 

 I have attempted to describe, unless care- 

 lessly and ruthlessly carried out, does the 

 plants no harm, and in many cases does 

 away with the necessity of any further prun- 

 ing, as well as giving a supply of their 

 beautiful sprays of blossom so useful for in- 

 door decorative purposes. The sprays 

 should be placed in water at once as soon as 

 cut, as when once wilted they seldom re- 

 cover their freshness again, as most flowers 

 do that are cut from softer wooded 

 plants than shrubs. 



