CHAPTER XVIII 



VARIEGATED AND COLOURED TREES AND SHRUBS. 



PERHAPS more rubbish is foisted on purchasers of trees and shrubs in the 

 shape of variegated sorts than of anything else. A variegated plant should 

 have its leaf-colouring bright, well-defined, and abundant to be of value. 

 Yet by some dealers every spotty or muddy coloured form is thought 

 worthy of a name and a flattering description. There can be no question 

 but that purple or variegated plants have a disturbing effect on the 

 general landscape. Their place is in the garden proper, where the eye 

 is accustomed to, and seeks for, unusual effects; but even there they 

 should never be sprinkled about indiscriminately. Coloured shrubs are 

 best in groups or masses, composed either of one sort or of two or 

 more that enhance each other's beauty. Trees like the purple beech or 

 variegated English elm are very effective as solitary specimens on a 

 lawn ; so is a group of Spath's cornel, perhaps the best deciduous varie- 

 gated shrub in cultivation. The value of such plants is most apparent 

 after midsummer, when the great flowering season of trees and shrubs 

 is over. They then furnish bright patches of colour which would other- 

 wise be lacking. In large gardens, I favour the plan of associating in 

 a few broad masses collections of good variegated shrubs and small trees, 

 and if such masses can be placed in somewhat secluded spots, or at any 

 rate in places where they are not for ever obtruding themselves on .the 

 vision, their charm and effectiveness are, I think, enhanced. 



Variegated evergreens have an especial value in giving colour and 

 warmth to a garden during the dullest months of the year. In the 

 following select list of variegated trees and shrubs they are marked with 

 an asterisk (*) : 



Acanthopanax spinosum variegatum, white. 

 Acer campestre postelense, all yellow. 



,, Schwerinii, purple. 



crataegifolium Veitchi, rose-coloured and white, 

 japonicum aureum, all yellow. 

 Negundo aureo-variegatum, yellow. 

 aureum, all yellow. 

 ,, variegatum, white. 



