DECIDUOUS FLOWERING SHRUBS 23 



The finest of the several forms is Forsythia intermedia, 

 a hybrid between F. suspensa and F. vjru&trimo, with 

 robust habit, reaching in beds and borders a height of 

 five or six feet when allowed to grow unchecked and 

 several feet higher when trained to a wall or trellis ; the 

 flowers are bright yellow and very freely produced. F. 

 suspensa (syn. F. Fortunei), an elegant species, native of 

 China and Japan, is rather more slender in growth than 

 the preceding hybrid, and free flowering, the flowers 

 yellow, and borne on the young shoots and the spurs in 

 February and March ; the best for walls and trellises. 

 F. viridissima, a strong growing species of Japanese 

 origin, and free in blooming, the flowers greenish 

 yellow , its stout growth renders it unsuitable for cul- 

 ture otherwise than in bush form. 



GENISTA. These are closely allied to the Brooms, 

 and like them are most suitable for culture where the 

 soil is light and sandy or thin, resting upon the chalk. 

 The number of species in cultivation is large, but of 

 these a small selection will suffice in any one garden. 

 They may be successfully grown in any well-drained 

 soil, but their chief value consists in their adaptability 

 for light soils and dry banks where but few other 

 shrubs grown for their flowers will thrive. They pro- 

 duce the best effect when arranged in groups of three or 

 four each, on banks or on ledges in the rock garden. 

 Propagation is effected by means of seeds, and as the 

 plants become somewhat bare after the third or fourth 

 year, a few seedlings should be raised at intervals to 

 take the place of the established plants as they become 

 unsightly. 



Of the large number of species available the follow- 

 ing are the most desirable : The Etna Broom, Genista 

 &tnensis (syn. Spartium xtnensis), a strong growing 

 species, attaining a height of ten feet and upwards, 

 blooming from June to August, the clusters of pea- 



