Gardening for Amateurs 



9*3 



it is rarely without 

 flowers until the end 

 of September. It 

 gives the best results 

 when cut back an- 

 nually to near the 

 base of the previous 

 year's stems. Such 

 pruning may be 

 carried out in 

 February. Seeds 

 form the best means 

 of increase, and 

 plants should be 

 grown in pots until 

 they can be planted 

 permanently. 



Spiraea. A large 

 number of shrubby 

 Spiraeas blossom be- 

 tween the early part 

 of June and the end 

 of August. The 

 majority blossom 

 from the current 

 year's wood and 

 require pruning 

 during late winter. 

 They thrive in ordin- 

 ary garden soil, and 

 may be increased by 

 cuttings, or in some 

 cases by division. 

 S. japonica is one 

 of the most useful 

 of all. It grows 

 about 2 feet high, 



and bears large flattened heads of light red 

 flowers. The varieties ruberrima and Anthony 

 Waterer are superior to the type ; there is 

 also a form with white flowers, called alba, 

 and a strong-growing variety with reddish 

 blossoms, named glabrata. S. salicifolia is 

 another useful kind. It attains a height of 

 3 to 4 feet, and bears its whitish flowers in 

 upright panicles ; the best variety is pani- 

 culata. S. Menziesii var. triumphans is a 

 very handsome sort. Its flowers are rich 

 red and are borne in large dense heads, a 

 foot or so long, from the ends of growths 

 3J feet high. S. Aitchisonii is a vigorous 

 shrub 8 feet high, with long arching branches 

 and pinnate leaves. The white flowers 

 58 



A handsome flowering shrub, Spiraea lindleyana. 



appear in long, terminal, branched in- 

 florescences often 18 inches in length. S. 

 lindleyana is another of the same group 

 which bears cream-coloured flowers. Both 

 bloom in August. S. discolor is also a 

 vigorous plant, but quite distinct from any 

 other. It grows 12 or 15 feet high, forms a 

 large, spreading bush, and bears elegant 

 panicles of cream-coloured flowers freely 

 in July. Xo regular pruning is necessary in 

 this case. S. canescens is a white-flowered 

 kind, the flowers appearing in small, flattened 

 heads from short axillary growths. It is a 

 wonderfully attractive plant and blooms in 

 June. S. Henryi is a new Chinese species 

 closely allied to the last-named. Its white 



