SHRUBS FOR PLANTING 



and the purpose it is to fulfil, should be uppermost. 

 There are those that illumine the spring; others that 

 show their flowers in summer; others that reserve 

 their glory for the autumn, and still others that remain 

 green, showing indifference to the winter. To obtain 

 special effects for each season should be the aim 

 of planters. A lawn bestrewn with shrubs giving 

 flowers only in spring would hold its beauty for but 

 a short time: the summer and autumn would find it 

 an extremely dull place. 



The various golden bells, Forsythias, are veritable 

 shrubs of the spring, adapted to plant outside the 

 garden. They show themselves prominently not only 

 about the lawns of the large estates of this country, 

 but are also seen by many an humble doorway. All 

 love them, young and old, especially those, it seems, 

 who do not know their names. They unfold after 

 the red maples have lost their blossoms and when 

 the hepaticas of the woods have become scarce; they 

 also follow the snowdrops, Siberian squills, and cro- 

 cuses that have had the courage to smile in the face 

 of March. But they are not far behind these early 

 comers. Innumerable little flowers burst from the 

 buds that sit jauntily on the vividly colored twigs, 

 and transform the whole shrub into a bold mass of 

 bright yellow. 



Forsythia viridissima is the variety most generally 

 planted, although suspensa, the drooping golden bell, 

 is rapidly becoming the greater favorite, since the 

 curve of its slender, vinelike branches is extremely 

 effective when covered with the wondrously gay 



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