430 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Shrubberies and Shrubs continued. 

 while the" habits of the various Shrubs employed will 

 invariably prevent an undue formality. Overcrowding is 

 especially to be avoided, but in planting a new Shrubbery, 

 a large number of duplicates may bo inserted, with a view 

 of treating them as being in a nursery for a year or two, 

 and then transplanting elsewhere as the permanent speci- 

 mens require additional space. Constant attention is 

 necessary in mixed Shrubberies, to prevent each plant, 

 particularly if it be a strong-growing one, from over- 

 growing its neighbour. This is a matter too often 

 overlooked or neglected, and the consequence is that a 

 slower-growing, but, as a rule, much more valuable, 

 plant is either destroyed or disfigured because of the 

 rampant growth of something else in too close 

 proximity, as, for example, variegated Aucuba, Box, 

 common or Portugal Laurels, or Yew. It is much better 

 to keep all of these out of a Shrubbery, or relegate 

 them to some back position where they may be allowed 

 to grow and thicken without injuring the more select 

 occupants. 



Ground intended for a Shrubbery should be well 

 trenched or deeply dug over before planting is at- 

 tempted ; it is then an easy matter to make holes where- 

 over they are required, and the soil, on being dug out 

 again, will break up finer for intermixing amongst the 

 roots. October is the best month for the general trans- 

 planting of Shrubs, but many evergreens may be safely 

 moved with balls at almost any season from August 

 until the following May, except during frosty or snowy 

 weather. The roots should not be kept out of the ground 

 longer than is really necessary ; they are nearly always 

 active, and soon suffer if exposed and allowed to get dry. 



Summer Pruning of Shrubs. It has been already re- 

 marked that if Shrubs in a mixed Shrubbery are to be 

 kept within bounds, and each individual prevented from 

 overgrowing its neighbour, constant attention in the 

 matter of -pruning is necessary throughout the summer, 

 or at least during the growing season. Summer pruning 

 of Shrubs is, unfortunately, too sadly neglected, when so 

 many things are providing employment, but its advantages 

 are none the less important, as, where it can be attended 

 to, the results show. Shrubs usually flower on the wood 

 made the previous year, but not always; sometimes, the 

 blossoms appear from midsummer until autumn on the 

 young shoots. Some knowledge of the habits and mode of 

 flowering which the various kinds assume is therefore 

 necessary, in order that pruning may be carried out at 

 the proper time, and in the best manner. For instance, 

 if a Shrub flowers naturally on wood of the previous year, 

 and these growths are cut away in the autumn, or early the 

 following spring, the embryo blossoms must be, as a 

 matter of course, destroyed. Deutzias, Forsythias, Lilacs, 

 the species of Philadelphus, Weigelas, and Viburnums, 

 are examples of Shrubs such as those to which reference 

 is made. The time to prune these, and many others of 

 like habit, is in summer, immediately the flowers drop 

 that is, presuming it is attempted at all : some gardeners pre- 

 fer letting such subjects grow at will, but this is scarcely 

 allowable in the mixed Shrubbery. If the old shoots are 

 removed as soon as the flowering is over, others will 

 proceed from where these have been detached, and develop 

 for the succeeding year, and the plant will not be 

 materially enlarged in comparison with an unprnned speci- 

 men. Rhododendrons and hardy Azaleas, if they need 

 pruning or cutting back, should receive it at a similar 

 period namely, as soon as the flowers fade. Many orna- 

 mental evergreen Shrubs, grown principally for their 

 foliage, may frequently be improved by summer pruning, 

 carried out more or less extensively, according to the 

 position the plants occupy, and the purpose for which they 

 are grown. 



All Shrub pruning and cutting should be executed, 

 whenever possible, with a knife, or one of the different 



Shrubberies and Shrubs continued. 

 instruments procurable for the purpose : the work may 

 then be performed without cutting the foliage, or other- 

 wise injuring the branches that are left. Clipping with 

 shears is most objectionable, excepting when the Shrubs 

 are planted as a hedge, a purpose for which Box, Holly, 

 Privet, and Tew, are extensively employed. 



SHRUBBY FINK. See Dianthus fruticosus. 



SHUTEREIA. See Falmia bicolor. Hewittia 

 bicolor is now the correct name of this plant. 



SIBBALDIA. Included under Fotentilla (which see). 



SIBERIAN CRAB. See Fyras prunifolia. 



SIBERIAN FEA-TREE. See Caragana. 



SIBTHORFIA (named after John Sibthorp, 1758- 

 1796, Professor of Botany at Oxford, and the originator 

 of "Flora Grseca"). STN. Disandra. Including Horne- 

 mannia. OED. Scrophularineaz. A genus consisting of 

 half-a-dozen species of greenhouse or hardy, prostrate, 

 hairy herbs, often rooting at the nodes ; they are 

 natives of Western Europe, tropical and North-western 

 Africa, Nepaul, and South America. Flowers yellow, 

 yellowish-pink, or red, on axillary, solitary or fascicled 

 pedicels ; calyx campanulate, four to eight-cleft (often 

 five-cleft) ; corolla tube short, sub-rotate ; lobes of limb 

 as many as, or one more than, the calyx lobes, spread- 

 ing; stamens as many as, or one less than, the corolla 

 lobes. Leaves alternate or fascicled, petiolate, orbicu- 

 lar-reniform and deeply crenate or incised-toothed. 

 S. europcea (Cornish Moneywort, Pennyleaf, or Penny- 

 wort), comprised in the British Flora, is more curious 

 than beautiful ; but the variegated form is a pretty plant, 

 well worth cultivating. The latter requires a light, well- 

 drained soil, and should be grown in a cold frame or cool 

 greenhouse, under a glass. Only one species S. peregrina 

 calls for description here. It is a small, trailing, hairy, 

 greenhouse perennial. When raised, its pendent branches 

 and little, yellow flowers assume a very pretty appear- 

 rance. It will succeed in any light, rich soil. Propa- 

 gation may be effected by divisions or by cuttings, with 

 or without a glass, in any shady situation. 

 S. peregrina (foreign), fl. yellow, four to five lines in diameter, 



five to eight-parted ; stamens slightly shorter than the corolla ; 



peduncles often fascicled, 2in. long. June. I. much crenated. 



Madeira, 1771. (B. M. 218, under name of Disandra prostrata.) 



SICELITJM. A synonym of Ooccocypselum. 

 SICKIiEWORT. A common name for Prunella 

 vulgaris. 



SICYOCARFUS. A synonym of Marsdenia 



(which see). 



SICYOS (an old Greek name, used by Theophrastus 

 for the Cucumber ; applied to this genus in allusion to 

 the resemblance in, and affinity of, the species). OBD. 

 CucurbitacecB. A genus comprising about a score 

 species of half-hardy, climbing or prostrate, annual herbs, 

 natives of the warmer parts of America, the Pacific 

 Islands, and Australia. Flowers small or minute, monoe- 

 cious. Fruit compressed or angular, rarely exceeding 

 lin. in length. Leaves angular or lobed, rarely profoundly 

 three to five-lobed. Several of the species have been in- 

 troduced, but they have no value as garden plants. 



SIDA (an old Greek name, used by Theophrastus for 

 the Water-Lily). Indian Mallow. OBD. Malvaceae. A 

 genus comprising about eighty species of stove, green- 

 house, or hardy herbs, sub-shrubs or shrubs ; about eight 

 inhabit the warmer parts of Africa and Asia, thirteen 

 are indigenous to Australia, and the rest are American. 

 Flowers various-coloured and sometimes showy, sessile 

 or pedunculate, solitary or glomerate, axillary or disposed 

 in terminal heads, spikes, or racemes; calyx five-toothed 

 or five-cleft ; petals five, hypogynous ; staminal column 

 divided into numerous filaments at the apex ; bracteoles 

 absent, or distant from the calyx. Leaves alternate. 



