SHRUBS 209 



suckle, Lonicera fragrantissima, and besides decorating 

 its brown branches in every direction with pairs of 

 creamy blossoms, it floods the cold spring garden with a 

 most delicious fragrance. It is an erect-growing, semi- 

 evergreen shrub, reaching a height of about six feet, and 

 will grow almost anywhere, but in a sunny sheltered 

 spot it blooms earlier than in exposed places. Others of 

 its family well worth growing and which flower much 

 later in the year are L. Standishii and Maackii. 



Often, as early as the middle of March, the Forsy- 

 thias hang out their yellow lamps, casting a pale radi- 

 ance for the Crocuses to get up by. There are several 

 different sorts, all bearing the same yellow bells, but 

 showing differences in their manner of growth. For- 

 syihia suspensa has long drooping branches, and this is 

 the best sort for training against a wall, or for planting 

 in groups in half -wild places where it will have plenty of 

 room to trail its branches without interfering with its 

 neighbours. F. intermedia is a fine form of robust habit, 

 more erect than suspensa, while F. viridissima is the 

 strongest growing and most erect of all but with less 

 fine flowers than the other two. These shrubs grown in 

 masses constitute one of the joys of spring. In the 

 garden I have a group of three in a wide border, one with 

 its branches trained against the wall, the other two in 

 front of it. They have an underplanting of pale Crocus 

 biflorus, which is very charming in the soft light of the 

 yellow Forsythias. 



