Old Flower Favorites 189 



simply a mass of indistinguishable whiteness. Mr. 

 Howell has named it The Fountain, and above the 

 pouring of white blossoms shown in this picture is an 

 upper cascade of bloom. This Wistaria is not grow- 

 ing in an over-favorable locality, for winter winds are 

 bleak on the southern shores of Long Island ; but I 

 know no rival of its beauty in far warmer and more 

 sheltered sites. 



Many of the Deutzias and Spiraeas which beau- 

 tify our spring gardens were introduced from Japan 

 before Fortune's day by Thunberg, the great ex- 

 ploiter of Japanese shrubs, who died in 1828. The 

 Spiraea Van Houtteii (facing page 190) is perhaps the 

 most beautiful of all. Dean Hole names the Spiraeas, 

 Deutzias, Weigelas, and Forsythias as having been 

 brought into his ken in English gardens within his 

 own lifetime, that is within fourscore years. 



In New England gardens the Forsythia is called 

 c Sunshine Bush' and never was folk name better 

 bestowed, or rather evolved. For in the eager 

 longing for spring which comes in the bitterness 

 of March, when we cry out with the poet, " O God, 

 for one clear day, a Snowdrop and sweet air," in our 

 welcome to fresh life, whether shown in starting leaf 

 or frail blossom, the Forsythia shines out a grate- 

 ful delight to the eyes and heart, concentrating for 

 a week all the golden radiance of sunlight, which 

 later will be shared by sister shrubs and flowers. 

 Forsythia suspensa, falling in long sweeps of yellow 

 bells, is in some favorable places a cascade of liquid 

 light. No shrub in our gardens is more frequently 

 ruined by gardeners than these Forsythias. It takes 



