Isaac Hicks & Son, Westbury Station, N. Y. Shrubs 



53 



An economical way to make large shrub plantations is to buy small plants one to two years old at 

 $8 to $20 per hundred. Plant them 2 to 4 feet apart and cut them off about 6 inches high. Mulch the ground 

 heavily with manure. The first season will show a luxuriant, dense growth of gracefully arching branches, 

 whereas, the planting of large shrubs, 5 feet high, is liable to be thin the first year, especially if they are 

 not well manured. Large plantations of shrubs can be made and cut down in the autumn, and will do much 

 to relieve the pressure on the short spring planting season. 



Althea Rose of Sharon 



(Hibiscus Syriacus) 



The Altheas and Hydrangeas are the most showy 

 flowers for August and September. We occasionally 

 hear stated: " I do not like Altheas; they have such 

 an ugly purple or magenta color." There are, how- 

 ever, a number of varieties with bright red and pink 

 colors and others that are pure white. The Altheas 

 are all tall-growing shrubs, attaining a height of 10 

 feet or more. They are usually narrow at the base, 

 forming a V-shaped plant when old. This tendency 

 can be readily corrected by pruning when young. 

 It is best to plant them at the back of groups of 

 shrubs. Altheas makes beautiful flowering hedges 

 and the annual pruning, when dormant, does not 

 affect their blooming, because, unlike most shrubs, 

 they bloom on branches of the current year's 

 growth. 



Aralia 



Aralia pentaphylla. An upright, arching shrub, 

 about 4 feet high, of the habit of Spircea Van 

 Houttei, with glossy and waxy foliage. It is not 

 conspicuous in flower or fruit, but the color and 

 texture recommend its use. 



A. spinosa (Hercules' Club; Angelica Tree). The 

 second year on a new place will often show this 

 to be the most vigorous of all shrubs. It is as 

 vigorous as an Ailarvthus, but nobody hates it 

 as they do the latter. It sends up one or more 

 thorny branches with finely divided leaves 2 feet 

 long and broad. In mid-summer the top is 

 crowned by an equally large cluster of minute 

 white flowers followed by black berries. The 

 stems are thickly covered with spines. 



Azalea * Rhododendron 



The Azaleas are the deciduous or leaf-dropping 

 members of the Rhododendron genus. The delicate 

 beauty of the Azaleas is as little known as their 

 showiness in mass or the ease with which they are 

 grown. The colors are pink, cherry, carmine, crim- 

 son, white, yellow and salmon. Some of these shades 

 clash with some varieties of Rhododendrons, but, 

 as most Azaleas are through before the Rhododen- 

 drons begin, there is little trouble on this point. 



Culture requirements are the same as for Rhodo- 

 dendrons, just leaf-mulch; that's all. Azaleas have 

 the advantage over Rhododendrons that there is no 

 foliage to carry through the winter. 



The uses and locations for Azaleas are numerous. 

 For decorating woodland they are excellent, har- 

 monizing with their surroundings. Most of the 

 varieties are native to such places and there can 

 be no more beautiful treasure to discover in a wood- 

 land glade than the Azalea and Lady*Slipper Or- 

 chid. To establish them in the woods, select a 

 place where there is a little sunshine so that they 

 will bloom more freely. Dig a large hole to check 

 the competition of the existing trees. The Azalea 

 viscosa is native to swamps where little hummocks 

 appear above the water. Therefore, with the Clethra, 

 Button Bush, Red-twigged Dogwood, Black Alder, 

 and Marsh Mallow, it makes a solution to the 



Azalea, continued 



problem of what to plant along the edges of streams 



and ponds. 



Azalea amoena. See Broad-leaved Evergreens, 

 page 68. 



A. arborescens. This is native in the Alleghany 

 mountains. The flowers are white or tinged with 

 pink and very fragrant. It is a compact and vig- 

 orous shrub with shiny foliage. We recommend 

 it highly for mass planting in shrubberies. 



Chinese. A. mollis. The Azalea mollis has the 

 largest flower of any of the Azaleas, individual 

 florets being funnel-shaped and as large as the 

 Rhododendron. They are in clusters 4 to 6 inches 

 in diameter. They bloom before* the foliage ap- 

 pears in May. Colors range through the yellow 

 series, from pale lemon to salmon and deep 

 orange. We have large, old plants that are well 

 established, with large balls of earth. They should 

 be used at the borders of shrubbery, and they can 

 be used in the woodland, but the flower is so large 

 that they appear less harmonious than the 

 native American varieties. 



A. lutea; syn., A. calendulacea. This is named 

 the Flame Azalea because in the Alleghany 

 mountains, when in bloom, it looks as if the under- 

 brush were afire. The colors are orange, orange- 

 scarlet and yellow. It blooms in May after the 

 Chinese and is a taller-growing plant. We have a 

 group in the orchard 6 feet high and it seems 

 perfectly at home there. An old orchard often 

 forms part of the lawn, and in the semi-shade this 

 and other Azaleas are very appropriate. 



Azalea mollis on a lawn. 1 his gives the greatest show in 

 early May, but some of its colors ere crude and it is sur- 



Eassed in beauty by the earlier Azalea Vaseyi and the other 

 tier kinds. 



