Shrubs for strikes the mind of the spectator. In the other a few a very 

 Colour few trees of the Plum stand at far intervals on the right of 

 another long broad walk, among masses of every kind of flower, 

 Roses, Hollyhocks, Gladioli, Lilies, pink and white flowering 

 Cherries, with a background of fruit trees against a high red- 

 brick wall ; and on the left velvet-green turf slopes down to 

 the chain of Lily ponds, with the wild garden and lofty forest 

 trees beyond them. In the first, the unimaginative soul of some 

 head gardener has produced an effect as hideous and uninterest- 

 ing as the squares on a chess-board ; in the other, exquisite 

 feeling for nature, and a deep and artistic sense of her beauty, 

 has written a veritable poem in flower and foliage ; for all blend 

 into one subtle harmony, each item enhancing the loveliness of 

 its surroundings. 



Again, how easily that handsome and useful shrub, the 

 Golden Elder, becomes a nightmare in some gardens. And 

 yet what is more brilliant for many months than its vigorous 

 growth, set against a background of dark Hollies, or reflected 

 in the still waters of a lake. On the dullest of days, under the 

 most leaden of skies, it is light in a dark place, a little blot 

 of sunshine in itself. Yet how intolerable when planted in long 

 rows with so obvious a contrast as purple-leaved Nut ! But 

 if these rather positive and violent shrubs are used sparingly 

 and with due caution, they are the source of delight they are 

 meant to be. 



Of the shrubby Spiraeas one can hardly have enough in 

 the garden, especially of the invaluable S. pruntfolia. This 

 is a joy from early Spring with its fairy rosettes of white borne 

 in long wreaths along each stem, and its fine metallic blue- 

 green foliage in Summer, which in Autumn runs through every 



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