LECTURE ON SPRING FLOWERS. 339 



to search the garden for the tiny Violet and Lily of the 

 Valley, the Snowdrop, the Primrose, and the Hepatica ; 

 these are lost to the heedless many, who know not how 

 much modest beauty waits to be wooed in its retirement. 

 But the larger forms of vegetable life cannot be so passed 

 by. They rise before us, confront us at every step, and 

 prefer their claims with an eloquence and power that few 

 can resist. 



The most conspicuous of spring-flowering trees and 

 shrubs are the different varieties of Almond, Mespilus, 

 Laburnum, Cherry, Peach, Pear, Plum, Thorn, Horse 

 Chestnut, Magnolia, Tree Paeony, Flowering Currant, 

 Lilac, Cydonia, Mahonia, and double - flowered Furze. 

 And this enumeration, large as it is, by no means ex- 

 hausts the catalogue of spring-flowering trees and shrubs; 

 it merely gives examples of what I consider to be the 

 most desirable. The Almond is one of the most beau- 

 tiful of spring-flowering trees; it blooms so early and 

 profusely. It is free, hardy, and accommodating withal. 

 Even London, with its limited list of " acclimatised " trees, 

 may justly reckon the Almond among the number. The 

 Laburnum, with its long racemes of golden blossoms, is 

 equally hardy and beautiful. The Horse Chestnuts, both 

 scarlet and white, are noble trees. But the most important 

 of spring -flowering trees are the varieties of Thorn 

 and double-blossomed Peach, and if these were more 

 generally known I have no doubt they would be more 

 extensively planted. Not only our gardens but our 

 shrubberies and parks are open to great improvement by 

 the free introduction of trees like these, and but few soils 

 are of such a nature as to preclude their cultivation. In a 

 general way, these trees should be allowed to take their 

 natural growth, or at most be but balanced in growth by 

 encouraging or checking a weak or rampant shoot occa- 

 sionally. In special instances where artificial forms may 

 be desirable, Cydonias, Ribes, Lilacs, and the like may be 

 trained with round heads on stems or as pyramids. 



