CHAPTER XIII 

 SHRUBS IN THE FLOWER GARDEN 



MOST of the old-time flower gardens of the 

 northeastern part of the United States had at least a 

 shrub or two with others so near as to give them 

 an air of relationship. Flowers were flowers in 

 those days; little time was spent in botanical dif- 

 ferentiation of the source. 



One such garden scarcely would be discoverable 

 today were it not for the surviving shrubs. Turf- 

 grown paths, with but a ragged remnant of the 

 box that once lined them, are arched with great 

 bush honeysuckles; a double yellow "wallflower" 

 struggles for bare existence in the shade of a rank 

 old "syringa," cinnamon roses run wild and a 

 flowering almond is a mere ghost of its former 

 glory. What few perennials remain are straggling 

 remnants of hardy races that even neglect finds 

 it difficult to kill. 



The old idea is every whit as good today. Why 

 look upon shrubs, or trees, as something quite 

 separable from the garden? If only as a 

 background, some of them almost always come 

 into the picture anyway; when shut out of a 



