44 THE BOOK OF SHRUBS 



during the spring months as not to need a word of 

 praise being said in their favour. It is, however, 

 necessary to point out that the laburnums in cultiva- 

 tion differ so widely in their beauty and effectiveness 

 that special care should be taken in their selection. 

 Although thousands of unflowered seedlings are annually 

 planted, they are utterly unfit for the garden, but seed- 

 lings that have flowered are admissible when they 

 produce racemes equal in size and colour to the finest 

 forms that can be obtained under name. The difference 

 in the cost of a seedling and a named variety will be a 

 few pence only and not worth being taken into con- 

 sideration. The Scotch laburnum (L. alpinum) and its 

 varieties, Parksi and Watereri, are somewhat more erect 

 in growth than the common laburnum, and are two or 

 three weeks later in flowering ; the flowers are of a 

 deep golden hue and produced in racemes ranging from 

 twelve to sixteen inches in length. The two finest 

 forms of the Common Laburnum (L. vu/garis) are 

 giganteum, distinguished by the large size of its racemes, 

 and pendulum, a weeping form, very graceful in habit, 

 and remarkable for the freedom with which it blooms 

 and the size of the racemes. 



The laburnums will thrive in soils of all descriptions, 

 and they are very effective whether arranged in groups 

 or planted singly on the lawn or in the shrubbery. In 

 comparatively small gardens they should be planted 

 singly and in positions where they have room to develop 

 their natural characteristics. The choice varieties can 

 be readily multiplied by budding or grafting, and large 

 trees of inferior forms can be speedily changed in char- 

 acter by grafting. Laburnums should not be planted in 

 meadows or paddocks, because the seed pods are poison- 

 ous to cattle and many animals have died from the effects 

 of eating pods that have fallen among the grass. 



MAGNOLIAS. The deciduous Magnolias that attain the 



