734 



SPIRAEA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



SPIRAEA. 



they bear their clusters of deep red flowers 

 at different times it is well to have both. 

 N. America. 5. Douglasi succeeds in 

 every part of the British Isles ; 5. Nob- 

 leana, from California, is less hardy, and 

 flowers earlier. An allied plant of garden 

 origin is 5. Billardii, raised from S. 

 Douglasi crossed with salicifolia. It is a 

 pretty shrub of 6 feet, with oblong leaves, 

 and narrow crowded spikes of bright pink 

 flowers, 5 to 8 inches long, from July into 

 September. S. pachystachys, another gar- 

 den hybrid (from corymbosa and Douglasi) 

 bears broader leaves and pale pink flowers. 

 S. HYPERICIFOLIA. From Asia Minor, 

 the type of a small group, all good in 

 growth and flower. The tall slender 

 stems arch gracefully, and under good 

 conditions reach a height of 8 feet, 

 wreathed in the flowering season with 

 clusters of small white flowers. 



its variety superba, and is a handsome 

 plant with graceful wand-like shoots and 

 large bright pink flowers. 5. Foxii, 

 another hybrid of dwarf habit, is less good. 

 S. bella, from the Himalayas, comes near 

 5. japonica, but is dwarfer and denser. 

 All these kinds flower freely through the 

 summer, and often till late in autumn. 



S. LINDLEYANA (Plume S.). A noble 

 shrub, sometimes 10 feet high, its graceful 

 foliage divided, and delicate green, the 

 flower clusters large, white, and plume- 

 like, being at their best in August. It 

 thrives in warm deep soil, and loves the 

 chalk. In cool soils it does not do so 

 well, seeming to spread more at the root, 

 but is always beautiful in foliage and 

 habit. Himalayas. 5. Aitchisoni from 

 Afghanistan also comes very near this, 

 differing little save in its larger flowers, 



S. JAPONICA (Rosy Bush M.). Easily 

 recognised by its slender stems 3 or 

 4 feet high, surmounted by broad flat 

 clusters of deep pink flowers. It is 

 a variable species with several other 

 names, such as 5. caUosa and 5. Fortunei. 

 There are also many distinct forms in 

 cultivation, and of these the best are 

 alba, a pretty compact shrub with 

 white flowers ; Bumalda, of the same 

 dwarf habit but with deep rosy flowers ; 

 Bumalda Anthony Waterer, a good plant 

 richer in colour and approaching the fine 

 form rubra from Japan, in which the 

 flowers are intense crimson-purple and a 

 shade larger. The plants called atro- 

 purpurea and coccinea by some hardly 

 differ from this. Other varieties are 

 splendens, with flowers of a pale peach 

 colour ; glabrata, of more rigid habit, with 

 bright pink flowers ; and Fraebeli, an early- 

 flowering form with wine-red flowers pass- 

 ing to deep crimson. S. Bumalda ruber- 

 rima is a cross between Bumalda and 

 bullata, dwarfer than its near parent, with 

 larger flowers of deeper colour ; S. Mar- 

 gavitce is a cross between S. japonica and 



ica, A. Waterer. 



ruddy bark, and darker green leaves cut 

 into smaller leaflets. 



S. SALICIFOLIA. A plant covering an 

 immense area in Europe, Asia, ami X. 

 America, and even naturalised in parts of 

 Britain. It reaches a height of 3 to 5 

 feet, with long serrate leaves and rosy 

 flowers in July and August, their precise 

 character differing in the many forms in 

 cultivation. The best of these are grandi- 

 flora, a shrub of dwarf habit with large 

 pale pink flowers ; lanceolata (or alba) with 

 white flowers ; and latifolia with larger 

 white or rose-tinted flowers. 



S. THUNBERGI (Thunberg's M.). A 

 dense bush, with small bright green leaves, 

 and in early spring a profusion of tiny 

 white blossoms. It is hardy, and especi- 

 ally suitable for planting in a bold rock 

 garden or on a raised bank among tree- 

 stems. Few shrubs are so fine in autumn, 

 its small leaves changing to brilliant 

 crimson. 



S. TOMENTOSA. A little shrub of about 

 4 feet, with down-covered branches, oblong 

 leaves grey or woolly with down on the 

 underside, and white, pink, or purplish 



