ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 229 



and the surrounding scenery. A group of the Golden 

 Holly forms a glowing picture in winter ; the Silver Holly 

 with its clusters of bright red berries is no less pleasing ; 

 the yellow green of the Laurel and the black green of the 

 Yew produce a beautiful contrast both in form and tint, 

 and they may at times be brought in contact for the sake 

 of contrast, and at times be separated and softened down 

 by the intermediate tints of light and glaucous green. 



But the beauty of our gardens out of doors in winter 

 need not be wholly dependent on the forms of trees and 

 the tints of their foliage. There are some few plants 

 which bear berries, and these should be introduced with- 

 out stint. Besides the common form of Holly so familiar 

 to us through its bright red berries, there are also the 

 yellow-berried and the orange-berried varieties, both noble 

 trees, well worthy of general cultivation. 



Then there are the Thorns, alluded to in a former 

 paper, which retain their fruit through a part of winter, 

 the Pyracantha, the Arbutus, the Skimmia, the Coton- 

 easter, the Pernettya, the Privet (both black and yellow- 

 berried), the Ivy and others. The beauty of the bark of 

 certain deciduous trees in winter is also a feature which 

 should not be lost sight of. The true Silver Birch, glitter- 

 ing in the sunshine and bright even in the gloom, is one 

 of the most prominent of these ; the golden-barked Ash, 

 the yellow, purple, and white-barked Willows, the red- 

 barked Dogwood, and the snake-barked Maple, belong 

 also to the same category. To those who are profession- 

 ally interested in, or may have the leisure to study the 

 subject, the spray of the leafless trees in winter opens up 

 a boundless source of pleasure and instruction. Infinite 

 is the variety of nature ; every kind of tree differs in the 

 form, character, and direction of the spray, and it is at 

 least a harmless pleasure to engage mentally in the dis- 

 entanglement of the sinuous masses or to track their 

 labyrinthian paths. 



Again, there are trees whose^ leaves, though they 



