Shrubs and Shrubbery 6i 



that grow wild in my neighbourhood. They are usually "easy" to grow, 

 requiring no extra trouble : perhaps this is the source of my interest in them. 

 Then, if planted freely, they make the place a part of the region in which it 

 is. We are content only when we appreciate the region in which we live. 

 Where hobble-bush is the commonest bush, hobble-bush should be to 

 us the best bush. It is often said that the native bushes are cheapest, but 

 I doubt this. 1 can buy Japanese shrubs at the nursery one hundred miles 

 away, and have them shipped to me, at a total cost considerably less than 

 that incurred when I search the woods for dockmackie and good wild roses — 

 providing, of course, my time is worth anything. But then, how could I 

 spend my time more entertainingly? 



Of course, I should not plant exclusively of the natives; and if none 

 of the natives seemed to fit the conditions and requirements, then I should 

 have none of them. But, at all events, I should make the main body of 

 my shrubbery of staple, hardy, easily grown kinds. Then I am sure that 

 I am making no experiment and taking no risks. The fancy and capricious 

 kinds I should use sparingly ; then if they fail I still have my main plantations 

 left. The list of the reliable and hardy kinds for central New York is really 

 a long one. I should include in it lilacs, mock-orange or philadelphus, 

 spireas, deutzias, rugosa roses, Tartarian and other bush honeysuckle, 

 privets, elders, Japanese snowball (the old-fashioned one is too much infested 

 with plant -lice), viburnums, barberries, Japanese quince, several willows, 

 chokecherry, flowering currant, dogwoods (cornus) weigelas, hazels, symphori- 

 carpuses, sumacs. These I should call good general-purpose shrubs, and 

 suitable for the main effect in planting. 



Most other shrubs I should consider to be special-purpose kinds in central 

 New York. For example, the big-trussed hydrangea is a special-purpose 

 object. Perhaps no shrub is planted with so little taste as this. The idea 

 seems to be that it must be planted, but that it is immaterial where it is 

 planted. Oftenest it is made to spoil a good lawn by having it thrust in 

 here and there without relation to method, purpose or design. It reminds 

 me of the old lady who came into possession of some doors when a neighbour- 

 ing church-building was pulled down. Of course, she must use the doors: 

 therefore, she set posts in her garden and hung the doors between. 



This brings up the whole question of what to do with very showy plants 

 like the hydrangea. It is perfectly legitimate to have them, but their 

 disposition should have some relation to the place itself. I am perfectly 



