yo TREES AND SHRUBS 



the season. This year on a wall the catkins have 

 been in beauty ever since the first week of January. 

 They are very attractive in their grace and quiet 

 beauty. Chiefly of soft grey and green colours, the 

 bracts are, however, suffused with a warmer reddish 

 tint. In the neighbourhood of London Garrya 

 elliptica is quite hardy in ordinarily sheltered posi- 

 tions, but does not flower so freely as against a 

 south wall. As it is of California!! origin this is not 

 surprising. This shrub resents disturbance at the 

 root, and in transplanting great care is necessary. 



There are other species of Garrya in cultivation, 

 but they are more suitable to the south-western 

 counties than to the average climate of Britain. 



To the catkin-bearing family belong several other 

 well-known trees, such as the Birches, Hornbeams, 

 and Sweet Chestnut ; but flowering later in the 

 year their beauty is apt to pass without notice in 

 the great flush of bloom that comes in with April. 

 The beautifully fragrant Sweet Gale must not be 

 passed without mention. Its reddish brown catkins 

 are formed before autumn, and expand on the still 

 leafless twigs in spring. 



