24 



TREES, SHRUBS AND PLANTS 



of bloom and beautiful foliage produced on branches drooping gracefully 

 to the ground makes it exceedingly attractive. This spirea, which is only 

 one of a large group of Spireas, is very hardy and grows well upon any 



moderately rich and well drain- 

 edj'soil. It attains a height of 

 about five feet and is particu- 

 larly adapted for mass plantings 

 about buildings and porches, 

 along [walks and drives or 

 around the boundaries of the 

 lawn. Of the other spireas, 

 there is the double -flowered 

 spirea that one sees everywhere 

 named Spiraea prunifolia 

 because its leaves resemble 

 those of the Prunus or plum. 

 Spiraea arguta, altho not as well 

 known, is a most desirable early 

 spring flowering shrub with 

 small delicate foliage and white 

 flowers. It is particularly ad- 

 apted for planting in the fore- 

 ground of other higher and 

 coarser growing shrubs. For 

 summer floweirng, the species 

 is represented by Spiraea 

 Bumalda var. Anthony Waterer 



that blooms quite continuously from the middle of June until frosts over- 

 takes it in the fall. Its flowers are produced in corymbs or flat flower heads 

 of a rosy crimson color, sometimes approaching a magenta. Where a low 

 shrub is wanted for summer effect, this is one of the best. 



Thuriberg's Barberry. It would be hard to name a shrub as cosmopol- 

 itan in its characteristics, combining as many desirable qualities as the 

 Japanese barberry, Berberis Thunbergii. It is one of the few shrubs that 

 is attractive at all seasons of the year. In the spring and 'summer its 

 graceful branches are clothed with small yellowish green leaves that change 

 to a bright scarlet in the fall. Later they are shed to expose the scarlet 

 berries that enliven the landscape all winter. While a sandy loam soil 

 seems to be ideal for the barberry, it will be found thriving equally well 

 on practically all types of soils that are well drained and seems hardly 

 more particular over exposure. The San Jose scale, plant lice and other 

 pests seem to painstakingly avoid it. The graceful form it assumes and 

 its low habit of growth make it suitable for filling in small spaces such as 

 between walks or buildings or for planting in front of Spireas and other 

 higher growing shrubs. There is nothing better to use where a low orna- 

 mental hedge is desired than this barberry that shifts for itself after it is 

 once established. 



Shrubs massed about the base of trees relieve 



the bareness of the trunks and tend 



to unify them with the 



surrounding lawn. 



