SPRING GARDENS, 113 



well. The Mountain Laurel of America (Kalmia) is one of the most 

 beautiful things ever brought to our country, and as a late spring 

 flower is precious, thriving both in the open and in half shady 

 places. 



There is no more showy plant or one more beautiful in effect 

 in masses than the common Broom and all its allies that are hardy 

 enough, even the little Spanish Furze giving fine 

 Broom and Furze, colour. The common Broom should be en- 

 couraged on bluffs and sandy or gravelly places, 

 so as to save us the trouble of growing it in gardens, for in 

 effect there is nothing better. The same may be said of the Furze, 

 which is such a beautiful plant in England and the coast regions 

 of France, and the double Furze deserves to be massed in the 

 garden in picturesque groups. In country seats, especially those 

 commanding views, its value in the foreground is very great, and it 

 is so easily raised from seed that fine effects are very easily secured, 

 though it may be cut down now and then in hard winters. 



The glory of spring in our pleasure grounds are the Rhododendrons ; 

 but they are so overmastering in their effect on people's minds 

 that very often they lead to neglect of other 

 Rhododendron things. It would be difficult to overrate their 

 and Magnolia. charms ; but even amongst them we require to 

 discriminate and avoid the too early and tender 

 kinds. Many of the kinds raised from R. ponticum and the Indian 

 Rhododendron, while they thrive in mild districts in the south of 

 England and west of France, near the sea, are not hardy in the 

 country generally. Some of these tender hybrids certainly flower 

 early, but we get little good from that. The essential thing, when 

 we give space to a hardy shrub, is that we should get its bloom 

 in perfection, and therefore we should choose the broad-leaved 

 hardy kinds, which are mostly raised from the very hardy North 

 American R. catawbiense, and be a little particular in grouping the 

 prettiest colours, never using a grafted plant. For many years the 

 Yulan Magnolia, when well grown, has been one of the finest trees 

 in English southern gardens, and nothing is more effective than the 

 Lily-tree in gardens like Syon and others in the Thames valley ; while 

 of late years we have seen precious additions to this, the noblest 

 family of flowering trees. Some of these, like M. stellata, have proved 

 to be valuable ; all are worth a trial, and, as to the kinds we are sure 

 of, the great thing is to group them. Even in the case of the common 

 Lily-tree (M. Yulan) it makes a great difference whether there are 

 four or five trees or one. 



Amongst the most beautiful of the smaller alpine bushes ever 

 brought to our country is the alpine forest Heath, which is cheery and 



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