TEEES, EVEEGEEENS, AND SHEUBS. 35 



Anotlier of our common favourites is the laurustiniis, 

 with its glossy leaves, rosy buds, and snowy flowers. It 

 seems to liave proved less hardy than it Avas once sup- 

 posed to be, but, flowering as it does in Avinter, it is too 

 valuable, as well as beautiful, to be willingly relinquished 

 as an addition to our shrubberies. I do not know if there 

 is any reason for the fact that another of our prettiest 

 shrubs is always trained against a wall, instead of being 

 allowed to grow as a bush — I mean the PyracantJia, or 

 evergreen thorn ; it is alike ornamental when covered with 

 its clusters of white hawthorn- like blossoms, or adorned 

 with a profusion of scarlet berries. It flowers in May, 

 and bears its red fruit all winter, and would certainly be a 

 most valuable addition to the garden or lawn. 



In writing of evergreens, the i\j must not be omitted. 

 Alike useful and ornamental, it grows where other plants 

 cannot flourish, and seems equally happy and willing to 

 embellish an unsightly wall or a noble tree ; it may be so 

 trained and pruned as to cause dull stone and lime to look 

 like a rampart of living green, or when left to its own free- 

 dom, it will wreathe tree or pillar with its graceful sprays, 

 truly repaying 



" The strength it borrows by the grace it lends." 



I fear the forester may be right when he strips the ivy 

 off, lest it should strangle a young tree ; but I am not 

 writing for such, and must plead for and counsel a frequent 

 use of this beautiful evergreen. "When planted against a 

 wall, it requires to be pruned every year in April, as, if 



