WOODY PLANTS FOR NEW ENGLAND 3 



natural planting or nature's way of planting. Thus, the designer of more 

 gardened areas will find suggested here materials which can be of little benefit 

 in more restrained plantings. 



The third motive which has influenced this report has been the selection of 

 woody plants of small stature adaptable for use in rock gardens and similar 

 limited areas. This portion of the study moves in the direction taken by the 

 plant hobbyist, the man who grows plants for their interest as plants and cares 

 not whether they have anything to contribute to a general landscape picture. 

 Though many of the plants listed here are of this sort, many more of these 

 dwarf, slow-growing, or procumbent materials do have possibilities for wider 

 use. Then, too, a glance at almost any portion of suburban America will 

 reveal the need for more careful location of plants on the basis of their potential 

 ultimate size. Even so, it should be understood that many of the rock-garden 

 shrubs suggested here are rare in cultivation, difficult to obtain, and will 

 probably never be taken up by the trade in general. Such suggestions are 

 made for the benefit of that increasing group of specialists who spend their 

 time at this sort of thing. 



Method of Presentation of Subject Matter 



The main body of the text of this bulletin consists of an alphabetical arrange- 

 ment of the several genera treated. Under each genus are considered the one 

 or more species or garden forms which seem best to express any particular 

 lines of desirable variation. Attached to each listing is to be found a short 

 description of that item. These descriptions are not be to looked upon as 

 technical accounts but rather as hints to garden value or other cultural partic- 

 ulars. As a still further aid to evaluation on the basis of garden usefulness, 

 three different intensities of boldness of type face are employed to express a 

 somewhat arbitrary scoring of the several plants: boldface capitals are used 

 for the most desirable; boldface small capitals for those varieties which are 

 somewhat less valuable; and small boldface type for the least desirable of 

 the species listed. This scoring is intended to indicate preference both within 

 each genus and within larger groups of plants of similar habit or garden value. 



Appended also are a few very general lists which analyze the plants on the 

 basis of habit or, in certain cases, of outstanding adaptability for specific uses. 

 It must be recognized that plants, being living things, do not lend themselves 

 readily to fixed groupings, and that such an analysis must be considered only 

 suggestive. Particularly necessary is it to so qualify the artificial assemblage 

 which includes those plants loosely classed as ground-cover materials or under- 

 shrubs. Though this lumping together of plants of diverse aspect and habit — 

 each with some individual property to make it useful in the solution of some 

 one of the numerous planting problems — may serve as a guide, information 

 so tabulated must be looked upon as but an index of possibilities. For definite 

 planning, reference should be made to the foregoing text, or to the fundamental 

 publications. 



Nomenclature 



The names of plants as here given — as concerns determination, spelling, 

 and usage — are based on Rehder's "Manual of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs." 

 Thus, with the single lapse into the horticultural practice of characterizing all 

 forms, phases, and natural varieties as varieties, these listings conform to the 

 rules in use internationally by plant taxonomists. The common names given 

 are, for the most part, those recommended by "Standardized Plant Names." 



