232 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



varietal names i.e. rubra, bright red flowers; rosea, rich rose-colour; 

 and ovata, with ovate leaves. Kalmias are favourite shrubs for forcing. 

 Hard forcing is not necessary, as the flowers respond to gentle heat if 

 the atmosphere is kept moist. As the buds begin to open remove the 

 plants to a cooler structure so as to prolong the season of flower. 



Kerria japonica (Jews' Mallow), occasionally met with under the 

 name of CorcJiorus japonicus, has yellow flowers, and the silver-leaved 

 form (foliis variegatis), although not quite so vigorous, is very orna- 

 mental. The double Jews' Mallow (K. j. flore pleno) is the commonest 

 kind, and succeeds admirably in sandy soil. It is a good shrub for 

 planting against a wall and for grouping in the shrubbery. The bright 

 yellow double flowers are borne abundantly. There is another very rare 

 variety, named major, with remarkably fine double yellow flowers. It 

 flowers freely and continuously. 



Laburnums. Planted with discretion the Laburnums produce 

 delightful pictures in the garden. In spring and early summer, when 

 the long drooping racemes of L. vulgare, the common kind, are at their 

 best, few small trees are more graceful. In addition to the perfect 

 hardihood and accommodating nature of the Laburnums, there is 

 scarcely a soil or position in which they will not grow satisfactorily. 

 L. alpinum, known also as Cytisus alpinus (the Scotch Laburnum), is 

 a fine tree for decorative planting. It flowers late, and is of great value 

 for this reason; it grows twenty feet high. The variety autumnalis 

 flowers, as its name indicates, in the autumn, and Parksii is another 

 excellent form, with slender racemes of flowers often a foot long. 

 L. Adami (Cytisus Adami} is remarkable because it bears dull purple 

 and yellow flowers on the same tree. It is a graft hybrid between 

 L. vulgare and Cytisus purpureus, and we have seen this planted in the 

 hedgerows. Of the varieties belonging to L. vulgare the undermentioned 

 are the most distinct : Carlieri has narrow racemes of flowers generally 

 a fortnight after those of the type ; quercifolium has deeply-cut leaves ; 

 and foliis aureis bright yellow foliage ; while pendulum is of good weep- 

 ing habit. 



Laurus nobilis (Sweet Bay) should be planted beyond the influence 

 of cold winds, and the soil most favourable to good growth is one com- 

 posed of turfy loam, peat, and good leaf-soil in equal proportions. As 

 it is considerably benefited by copious supplies of water in spring just 

 as fresh growth appears, ample drainage should be provided to carry off 

 superfluous water. In localities too cold for planting in the open air 

 it is worth growing in tubs for the cool-house. 



Laurustinus. See Viburnum Tinus. 



Ledums. These are compact evergreen shrubs, thoroughly hardy, 

 distinct, and ornamental. They flourish in ordinary soil, but prefer one 

 composed largely of peat. L. latifolium (Labrador Tree) is vigorous and 

 free in all ways, with its great clusters of white pink-tinted flowers. 

 The Marsh Ledum (L. palustre), a European species, grows about three 

 feet high and forms a dense bush with small green aromatic leaves 

 covered with a thick tomentum on the under sides, and in early summer 

 its clusters of small pale pink flowers are welcome. 



