FLORICULTURE 473 



tenderest feeling and the closest living with nature. One's place 

 grows to be a reflection of himself, changing as he changes, and 

 expressing his life and sympathies to the last. It is this partner- 

 ship of nature and art which makes the farmer's children in after 

 years always think lovingly of the old place as "Home, Sweet 

 Home." (Cornell E. S. B. 205.) 



CHOOSING ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS AND FLOWERS. 



Choose regardless of any slighting remarks the good old spe- 

 cies which have stood the test of a thousand years and which today 

 furnish the root and basis for all the horticultural freak varieties 

 that bring fancy prices and which deteriorate to nothing after a 

 year or so of crowded and profusely vulgar bloom. Sometimes 

 there is no description, except the color of the flowers given, and 

 one might guess at the wrong one, so for convenience sake it will 

 be best to list the best shrubs for the door yard in several groups 

 according to classification and refinement. 



It is well to repeat that in planting one should always leave 

 a wide open lawn; plant the outer border heavily with a mass of 

 rather dense shrubs thereby attaining a sort of privacy on the 

 grounds and maintaining a definite form and outline to the prop- 

 erty. Plant also with a more refined class of shrubs against the 

 foundations and corners of the building and cover the front porch 

 with a few good clean vines. 



In the border plantation use the less refined plants farthest 

 away from the approach; use a variety of kinds, but enough of 

 one type in a place to produce a definite effect of light, shade, color, 

 flower, or fruit. There are many shrubs which are good all the sea- 

 son through. The flowers are by no means the only beautiful 

 things in nature. There are the bright leaves in spring and fall 

 berries some of which hang on all winter. Others are evergreen 

 or semi-green and in many cases the fall color of leaves is astound- 

 ing. There are many different shades of green in leaves, which 

 when mixed are exceedingly interesting, while variations in bark 

 color and type are as good as a collection of museum curios. 



Shrubs. Shrubs of the latitude of New York fall into three 

 classes in regard to height: First, low dwarf shrubs in full devel- 

 opment growing seldom over 2% feet high. These should be 

 planted about 2 feet apart. In this class are the holly leaved bar- 

 berry, dwarf deutzia, Japanese barberry, coral berry and spirasa 

 Anthony waterer. For this class of shrubs where especial refine- 

 ment is desired, hardy perennials are often substituted. Those suit- 

 able for such substitution are German iris, phlox paniculata, peo- 

 nies, funkia or day lilies, spiraea Jap, or Astilbe Japonica and 

 Adam's needle or Yucca. 



The second or medium height shrubs are those which at full 

 development attain approximately 5 to 6 feet and are usually 

 planted about 3 to 4 feet apart. This class includes the Weigela 

 roseum, purple leaved barberry, mock orange, golden bell, yellow 

 flowering currant, Japan quince, sweet shrub, Deutzia pride of 

 Rochester, Regal's privet, Van Houtte's spiraeas, Japanese spiraea, 



