THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



Fig 1711. 



-Spray of Spirea's Douglasii 

 and bumalda. 



flora, Forsythia, Deutzia, Spirea, Ta- 

 marix, Viburnums, Exochorda grandi- 

 flora and many others almost too 

 numerous to mention. Many hybrids 

 of these plants have also been added to 

 the list by enterprising nurserymen and 

 florists. The colder latitudes of Siberia 

 and Northern Europe have contributed 

 a few varieties worthy of notice, amongst 

 others being the pretty, sweetly per- 

 fumed Daphnes, most of which flower 

 very early in spring, their dwarf and un- 

 obtrusive habit making them particularly 

 suitable for planting on lawns. The 

 Halesia tetraptera or Snowdrop tree is 

 a native of N. America, and is quite 

 hardy, its pretty silvery white bell like 

 flowers, which have given it the name of 

 Silver Bell or Snowdrop tree, are pro- 

 duced in May or June before the leaves 

 appear, giving the plant a novel and 

 unique appearance. The variety Hale- 



498 



sia hispida is a very pretty and more 

 recent introduction from Japan, but 

 does not appear to be as acceptable as 

 the native variety. Some of the hardy 

 Azaleas, known as the Ghent or Ameri- 

 can Azaleas, have been successfully 

 grown in this locality, such as Azalea 

 viscosa and A. nudiflora, but the Azalea 

 mollis of Chinese and Japanese origin, 

 as well as Azalea poniica from the Cau- 

 casus, including hybrids of these varie- 

 ties, which are classed as being hardy 

 in this section, have not proved to be 

 so, partaking as they do, both in flower 

 and habit, more of the nature of those 

 gorgeously beautiful Asiatic shrubs, the 

 Rhododendrons, which are seen in such 

 numbers on lawns, more particularly in 

 the south and west of England as well 

 as in Southern Europe. It is to be 

 regretted that these latter are not entirely 

 hardy here ; even in England, severe 

 winters and extreme drought in summer 

 often destroys whole beds of these much 

 admired plants. 



Mention might be made of many 

 more species and varieties of flowering 

 shrubs, many of them being better 

 adapted for planting in large shrubber- 

 ies, or margins of plantations, or to hide 

 some objectionable feature of the land- 

 scape than for planting on lawns for 

 decorative purposes. The planting of 

 shrubs is of importance especially as to 

 the requirements of position and sur- 

 roundings ; the method of actual plant- 

 ing being the same as applied to all 

 small trees and shrubs requires no ex- 

 planation, as these particulars have been 

 so often given in horticultural journals. 



Sufficient attention is not often given 

 to these plants regarding position and 

 surroundings, as with few exceptions 

 they require an open sunny situation, 

 with a free circulation of air, without 

 being fully exposed to sweeping winds ; 

 the partial shade of a tree or building 



