LIGUSTRUM. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



537 



moner sorts have no beauty what- 

 ever, and they all have the same vile 

 sickly odour in summer days when 

 they flower. Happy in the possession 

 of the finest hedging and fencing 

 plants of the northern world, Quick, 

 Holly, Box, Yew, and Sweet Brier, 

 nurserymen and jobbing gardeners 

 make hedges and fences with these 

 wretched Privets, fences which have 

 the one poor quality of rapid growth, 

 but which a man, let alone a beast, 

 could walk through without effort. I 

 have seen whole towns like Leicester 

 with miles of these poor hedges, and 

 they are even to be seen in pretentious 

 show places, where one would expect 

 people to know what a real fence 

 meant. 



Rich in native and other covert 

 plants, I have seen the Privet recom- 

 mended as a covert plant, for which it 

 is useless beside the beautiful covert 

 plants we have Furze, Sloe, Sweet 

 Brier, Juniper, and Wild Brier Rose 

 and above all things recommended as 

 a covert plant near water, for which 

 Nature has given us the most fitting of 

 all in the spiry-leaved trees of the 

 Willow and Dogwood order, of which 

 there are many kinds. 



As to beauty, the wildest Briers that 

 vex our legs and sometimes our faces, 

 have far more beauty, whether of leaf, 

 form, flower, or fruit. 



The land which has given us so many 

 beautiful trees and shrubs and flowers, 

 America, has nothing to do with the 

 Privets, which are inhabitants of Asia 

 and Europe, including China and 

 Japan. Some of the species are ever- 

 green, some summer leafing, and others 

 in our mild climate hang between the 

 two, and keep their leaves, except in 

 very severe winters. They are all too 

 quickly propagated by cuttings, and 

 there are tropical species not hardy in 

 our country. 



The gain of the rapidity of growth 

 of the Privet is more apparent than real, 

 as it simply leads to equally quick 

 decay if used as a fence plant or in 

 any other way. The true fence plants, 

 when fairly treated and put in the open 

 in good condition, as all fence plants 

 should be, are not by any means slow 

 growers. Holly in good soil will grow 

 2 feet in a year. 



L. CORIACEUM. A distinct and curious 

 species from Japan, evergreen, dwarf, and 

 bushy, from 2 to 5 feet high, with thick 

 leathery leaves, of stiff habit, and flowers 

 in white panicles with the sickly odour of 



the tribe. It might have some use 

 among dwarf bushes on banks. 



L. IBOTA. A shrub from 5 to 8 feet high 

 or more, of free habit and form, blooming 

 freely in summer. The white flowers in 

 spikes followed by dark berries. A native 

 of China and Japan. Syn. L. amurense. 



L. JAPONICUM. A good evergreen kind, 

 rather dwarf and shrubby, with pointed 

 leaves 2 to 3 inches long, leathery, and 

 of a deep green with straggling panicles 

 of flowers. Syn. L. Sieboldi. 



L. LUCIDUM. One of the best for erect 

 and bold growth, growing 10 feet high or 

 more, with firm lustrous leaves, 5 to 6 

 inches long by over 2 inches wide, and bold 

 panicles of flowers 6 inches long in summer 

 and autumn. It is a native of China, 

 where it forms a tree. A variety, L. 

 Alivoni, has longer leaves, and there is 

 a variegated variety. Syn. L. sinense 

 lati folium. 



L. OVALIFOLIUM. One of the most popu- 

 lar varieties, and much used for forming 

 hedges, as it retains its foliage through 

 the winter better than the commoner 

 Privet, but it is without much character 

 as a shrub. There is a yellow variegated 

 variety which is also very popular, but 

 less showy as it gets old. 



L. QUIHONI. A Chinese Privet of a wiry 

 dwarf character ; with small leaves, and 

 the branches covered with a purple down ; 

 flowering freely and rather showily. 



L. SINENSE. Not quite hardy on cold 

 soils, but one of the best species, preferring 

 a dry soil and flowering freely and rather 

 handsomely on warm soils. It bears many 

 purple berries, and it is a tall species, often 

 attaining a height of 15 feet. China. 



L. VULGARE. This is the kind generally 

 used for hedges and arbours, standing 

 all ill-treatment in town and suburban 

 gardens, and growing pretty well where 

 nothing else will grow, but not worth 

 having anywhere. It bears dark purple 

 fruit like most of the kinds, and there are 

 several varieties of it, especially variegated 

 ones of little value. 



LILIUM (Lily}. The Lilies are 

 among the most beautiful bulbous 

 plants, combining as they do stateli- 

 ness and grace with brilliant and 

 delicately-coloured flowers. The many 

 kinds in cultivation afford a rich 

 choice. All are beautiful, but some 

 are better suited for particular localities 

 than others. The habit and general 

 character of the plants being so 

 varied, their uses are likewise varied. 

 Some are suited for the rock garden, 

 others for the mixed border, many 

 for the shrubbery especially for the 

 Rhododendron beds while not a few 

 are so robust that they are at home 

 in the wild garden, holding their own 

 against native plants. Much of the 



