310 Ornamental Shrubs. 



suggestion. These come forward in June, and are borne 

 in racemes eight to twelve inches long, and keep in good 

 form for two or three weeks. In color they are rosy-pur- 

 ple and very attractive. In the Northern States it may 

 be well to afford the plant slight protection, especially in 

 the early stages of its growth, but in the South this will 

 be unnecessary. The species will certainly prove a 

 valuable acquisition in that section. 



TAMARIX. 



THE hardy tamarisks are beautiful shrubs, and 

 worthy of a more prominent place in orna- 

 mental planting than in this country has yet 

 been accorded them. While the genus is quite large, 

 only a few species are suited to ordinary garden cultiva- 

 tion. For planting by the seaside, and in especially 

 exposed situations, they are of the utmost value, as their 

 long, slender branches, readily yielding to the winds, are 

 seldom broken. Not even the salt spray, so fatal to 

 nearly all other plants, does them permanent harm, unless 

 it be abundant and continuous. The tamarisks grow so 

 rapidly as to be able to also serve a good purpose in such 

 situations in affording protection to less hardy plants, and 

 where their merits are appreciated they are sometimes 

 grown in belts or masses for purposes of shelter. To 

 make the most of them they must be severely cut back 

 from year to year, as the tendency is to throw out long 

 shoots that become bare stems, and as the foliage and 

 flowers appear in most forms on the new growths only. 

 They bear this clipping well, and are greatly improved in 



