146 PLAIN AND PLEASANT TALK 



ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS. 



A DESCRIPTION of a few of the desirable flowering and 

 ornamental shrubs for yards and lawns may enable our 

 readers to select with judgment. 



PRIVET. This is quite beautiful as a single plant ; but 

 is universally employed for hedges, verdant screens, etc. 

 There is an evergreen variety, originally from Italy, by far 

 the best. The roots of this plant are fibrous, don t spread 

 much ; the limbs endure the shears very patiently ; it grows 

 very rapidly, two full seasons being sufficient to form a 

 hedge ; and it will flourish under the shade and drip of 

 trees. 



ROSE ACACIA (Robinia hispida). This is a species of 

 the locust, of a dwarf habit, seldom growing six feet in 

 height, and covered with fine spines which give its branches 

 a mossy appearance. Its blossoms resemble the locust, but 

 are of a pink color. It is often grafted upon the locust to 

 give it a higher head and better growth. It should be in 

 every shrubbery. 



VENETIAN SUMACH, or smoke tree (Ehus cotinus). The 

 peculiarity of this shrub is in the large bunches of russet- 

 colored seed-vessels, looking, at a little distance, like a puff 

 of smoke. The French and Germans call it periwig-tree, 

 from the resemblance of these russet masses to a powdered 

 wig. It grows freely, and is highly ornamental. 



There are two other species of sumach worthy of cultiva 

 tion ; the JKhus typhina, or Stag s Horn sumach, of a fine 

 flower, and whose leaves turn in autumn to a beautiful pur 

 plish red ; and the R. glabra^ or Scarlet sumach, having 

 red flowers and fruit of a \elvety scarlet appearance, chang 

 ing as it ripens to crimson. 



SYRINGA, or Mock Orange (Philadelphus coronarius), is 

 a beautiful shrub, having, in the spring, flowers of a pure 

 white, and of an odor only less exquisite than that of the 

 orange ; whence one of its popular names. The leaves hav* 



