198 SHRUBS 



one's place chiefly with such truck; it is a blunder. The reasons 

 for this judgment are explained in the chapter on trees. 



The only one of nature's suggestions we have followed is 

 that which culminates in the "spring garden." (See plate 73.) 

 A superb example of banked shrubbery is on the estate of the late 

 H. McK. Twombly, at Madison, N. J. Sometimes a whole estate 

 is made one great spring garden, nearly every plant being chosen 

 because of some attraction it presents between the middle of April 

 and the first of June. Personally, I like better the year-round 

 home of Professor Sargent, where the spring garden is only one of 

 many beautiful features, all well proportioned, related, and secluded. 

 But I have no quarrel with wealthy Americans who choose to 

 glorify spring to the utmost, so that they may walk amid a dream 

 of beauty for the six weeks such an estate is used by the family. 

 For private specializing on a princely scale gives us visions of new 

 and better things that every one may enjoy when the world gets 

 better organized. 



But for the ordinary person an exclusive specialty is all wrong. 

 Perhaps the quickest way to make America beautiful is to have a 

 rosarian in one house, a dahlia crank next door, and so on, but 

 the ideal is to have every place interesting the year round. The 

 obvious reason is that the vast majority of us cannot afford more 

 than one home at a time. And in order to make a place attractive 

 every day in the year we ought to put more thought on shrubs than 

 on any other plants. There are many reasons for this, but it is 

 sufficient that they give us brighter colour in winter than ever- 

 green and at less expense. On a great estate trees may be a bigger 

 item, because they form the framework of every home picture, 

 while shrubs are only the trim. But city and suburban lots are 

 so small that only a few large trees, if any, are desirable, and 



