246 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



or so. S. hypericifolia, from Asia Minor, is a dainty species with white 

 flowers. Its long, slender shoots and small white flowers create a pretty 

 effect in May. S. discolor (arixfolia), a well-known border shrub, 

 produces lavishly its cream-white flowers, in long, graceful panicles, 

 about midsummer. In order to see the full beauty of this shrub, 

 plant it in an open spot, where it is not cramped for space, as in 

 many shrub borders. S. media, better known under its garden name 

 of S. confusa, has quantities of white flowers in corymbs all over the 

 plant. It is a twiggy shrub, and largely used for forcing. S. prunifolia 

 flore pleno, the double-flowered, plum-leaved Spiraea, is a precious spring 

 flowering kind, but, unfortunately, not much grown. Its small, white 

 flowers appear in abundance. S. Douglasi, from North America, is 

 fairly well known. It has terminal panicles of rosy-red flowers in July. 

 S. Thunbergii, a Japanese species, grows about three feet or four feet 

 high, and in early March, sometimes even in February, its clusters of 

 fragrant white flowers are welcome. Its autumn-tinted foliage is very 

 pleasing. Space should be reserved in the rock-garden for S. buttata, 

 known also as S. crispifolia, an uncommon Japanese species, much too 

 dwarf and slow in growth for the ordinary shrubbery. Its leaves are 

 small, deep green, and its rose-coloured flowers appear in dense corymbs. 

 S.japonica Anthony Waterer is a delightful late-flowering Spiraea, It 

 is dwarf, bushy, and its rich crimson flowers remain showy for a long 

 time. Few shrubs are more appropriate for massing. S. j. glabrata 

 is rare, and very beautiful ; flowers pink, borne in large corymbs. S. 

 arguta is the most charming of white-flowered Spiraeas. It is per- 

 fectly hardy, and its small snow-white blossoms are very lasting. S. 

 Van Houttei, raised from S. media and S. triloba, also bears white 

 flowers in great abundance. S. lindleyana, a magnificent species from 

 the Himalayas, bears terminal panicles of white flowers late in the 

 season. When suitably placed, it grows nine feet high, and is well 

 worth a place in the garden as a foliage shrub alone, its graceful pinnate 

 leaves being of a refreshing shade of green. 



The Staphylleas (Bladder Nuts) are pretty, spring-flowering, de- 

 ciduous shrubs, six feet or more high, and thoroughly hardy. Ordinary, 

 well-drained soil suits them perfectly, and if frequent doses of water 

 can be given while growth is young much benefit ensues. S. colchica, 

 from the Caucasus, is finer than the European species, S. pinnata, and 

 when bearing its pendulous racemes of white flowers, it is remarkably 

 effective. 



Stuartias. The Stuartias are not happy in every garden. They 

 are rather tender, perhaps, and greatly dislike east and north winds, 

 especially in spring. A rich, loamy soil, to which has been added 

 leaf-mould and peat, favours the best growth. Anything like stagnant 

 water about the roots is fatal. S. virginica, from North America, is 

 perhaps the best known. Its cream-white flowers, between two inches 

 and three inches across, are white, with prominent brownish-red stamens. 

 S. pseudo-camellia, a Japanese species, is exceedingly attractive when 

 displaying its bold, snow-white flowers with yellow stamens. The 

 autumn-tinted foliage is distinct and showy. 



