Trees for the Home Grounds 



8s 



Examples of tree covered with showy flowers. Magnolia 

 stellata ; hardy in New England ; blooms in April 



a background of shrubs and trees. A single tulip appearing against the 

 deep shade of a shrub or low-growing tree may be more beautiful than a 

 bed, without any setting, that contains hundreds of plants. The same is 

 true of a group of trilliums 

 growing under a low-branching 

 linden, or a showy lady's-slipper 

 in the shade of a white pine. I 

 have in mind a low-branched soft 

 maple where the ground under- 

 neath is carpeted with wild violets ; 

 an elm about whose buttressed 

 trunk is a thick growth of white 

 adder-tongues, and a beech shad- 

 ing a beautiful group of ferns. 

 One can imagine a beautiful fall 

 picture where a pepperidge tree, 

 which has quite inconspicuous 

 flowers, but has an autumn foliage 

 more brilliant than that of our 

 other native trees, serves as a background for sunflowers, golden-rods^ 

 and asters. Such would indeed be a beautiful picture. 



The brilliant colouring which the foHage of certain trees takes on in 

 autumn is usually more satisfactory than that of such trees as the purple- 

 leaved plum and the purple-leaved beech, which retain their peculiar colouring 

 during the entire season. Care should be taken not to use too many trees 

 whose foliage is abnormal either in colour or shape. The leaves of our 

 common trees present a wonderfully varied assortment of green, the most 

 restful and satisfactory of all colours. No colour makes a better foil for 

 a flower, whether it is seen out-of-doors or as a bit of table decoration. One 

 can seldom make a mistake, therefore, in selecting native American trees 

 for planting about a flower garden. The list of these might be enlarged 

 by adding Norway and sycamore maples, the European bird cherry, and 

 any other foreign trees which harmonise with our own. The European 

 cut-leaved birch is a beautiful tree, but it seems to me that its place is on 

 a lawn just in front of a group of pines. When planted with flowers, it 

 would seem to be competing with them for admiration, instead of helping 

 them by making an effective contrast. If the purple-leaved tree is used, 



