Round the Year in the Garden 



flowers. The variety graudiflora is finer. The Daphne 

 thrives best when not touched by the pruning knife. 

 The Japanese Quince (Cydonia japonica) may be expected 

 to bear its red, apple - blossom - like flowers early, 

 especially in a mild winter. The fruits, which ripen 

 during summer, make an excellent jelly. It may be 

 grown either as a small bush in the open, or trained 

 against a wall. What little pruning is necessary is 

 directed towards stopping the side shoots in summer; 

 the effect of this is to cause blossom buds to form. 

 Though usually necessary with plants on walls, this 

 treatment is rarely required when dealing with those 

 grown as bushes in the open garden. 



The finest of the Witch Hazels is Hamamelis mollis. 

 It is in bloom early in the New Year, and bears yellow 

 flowers. It opens earlier than the better - known 

 Hamamelis arborea, with curiously twisted yellow and 

 reddish-brown blossoms. The Witch Hazels need no 

 regular pruning, though it is essential occasionally to 

 cut out the old growths. Garrya elliptica is a curious 

 yet attractive catkin-bearing shrub. The male catkins 

 alone are of decorative value, and as male and female 

 catkins are produced on separate shrubs, it is necessary 

 when purchasing to ensure that the male -flowered plant 

 is supplied. The long catkins of the latter are of 

 yellowish-green colouring, and look especially handsome 

 when depending from the branches trained against a 

 sunny wall. 



During Frost and Snow. The time - honoured advice 

 given by gardening books and papers on work for frosty 

 weather is to wheel manure on vacant ground so that 

 it may be in readiness for digging in when the thaw 

 takes place. Though not, perhaps, a very entertaining 

 exhortation, it is nevertheless sound, for the wheelbarrow 

 runs much more easily on hard than 011 soft ground. 

 Chief among other items of gardening work to be done 

 during frost is that of pruning, for this may be carried 



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