214 MY GARDEN 



fine. I have had a bush of the Hungarian Lilac (S. 

 Josikaea) in the garden for several years, but it seems 

 most deliberate and has not yet bloomed. 



Lilacs love a rich soil and a spot not too dry, and they 

 seem to like to grow close to a house, where the drip 

 from the eaves finds its way to their thirsty roots, or 

 perhaps the sympathy and companionship of human 

 beings answers to some need of its nature, for surely 

 Lilacs are never so fine as when growing close to a dwell- 

 ing. To prune Lilacs is to do them grievous harm. I 

 have known them sulk, or perhaps mourn, for years 

 after a smart trimming, not giving a single bloom. The 

 faded flowers are best cut away, but the branches may be 

 left to themselves. 



Besides the beloved Lilacs May has great wealth in 

 the way of flowering shrubs. The Deutzias are a useful 

 and deserving race, which will thrive lustily if given 

 tolerable conditions. There are numerous varieties, but 

 the family is well represented by D. crenata fl. pi., 

 Pride of Rochester, double white flowers; Crenata rosea, 

 double pink; Lemoinei, a sturdy dwarf shrub of up- 

 standing habit, producing pure-white flowers, and graci- 

 lis, a small fluffy-flowered thing of great beauty. 



Exochorda grandiflora, the Pearl Bush, is one of the 

 prettiest of flowering shrubs, though not often seen. 

 Its snowy, inch-broad blossoms appear in great profusion 

 with the leaves, and a well-grown specimen may be eight 

 feet high and as many through. It delights in rich soil 



