HARDY SHRUBS. 39 



But there is great art in the laying out of shrub- 

 beries and the arrangement of the shrubs. There 

 is the time of flowering to be considered, and no 

 less the various colours of the blossoms, while 

 (very occasionally it is true) the tints of the leaves, 

 as they first expand, or are touched by the chills 

 of autumn, and even the prevailing tone of bark 

 and branches, are studied, so that there may be 

 always some happy effect of colouring. But for 

 the most part all this is neglected. There are very 

 few gardeners who pay the attention they should 

 to the shrubbery, and still fewer owners of gardens 

 who care to interfere in the matter. A pinetum 

 has of late years become something of a fashion, 

 and is therefore often a subject of interest, but 

 the shrubbery and the shrubbery border are 

 scarcely regarded. Lilacs and laburnums, scarlet 

 thorns, and rhododendrons are very beautiful ; 

 but to confine our flowering shrubs to these 

 implies either want of knowledge or want of taste. 

 There are numbers besides, perfectly hardy, or 

 only requiring some slight protection in the 

 winter, which are comparatively but little known. 



