GOOD TREES AND SHRUBS 241 



Kalmias. Here we have a small group of ornamental evergreen, 

 free-flowering American shrubs,, delighting in soil favourable to the 

 Rhododendron. Chalk or lime in the soil, or water supplied to them, 

 is injurious. They are neat in growth, and suitable for massing ; and 

 by planting bulbs like lilies between them a rich display is obtained with 

 little trouble in autumn as well as in spring. They are usually grown 

 as bushes, but K. latifolia, the broad-leaved Mountain Laurel, makes 

 a handsome standard a form by no means common in gardens. Its 

 great terminal clusters of soft rose-coloured, wax-like flowers are very 

 pretty and lasting. The Swamp Laurel (K. glaucd) grows about two 

 feet, is of rather loose growth, and bears a wealth of lilac-purple clusters. 

 K. angustifolia, also known as the Sheep Laurel, is quite distinct from 

 the foregoing. The flowers are deep red, smaller than those of the 

 K. latifolia } and borne with greater freedom. There are several deco- 

 rative varieties of K. angustifolia, and all may be identified by the varietal 

 names i.e. rubra, bright red flowers ; rosea, rich rose-colour ; and 

 ovata, with ovate leaves. Kalmias are favourite shrubs for forcing. 

 Hard forcing is not necessary, as the flowers respond to gentle heat if 

 the atmosphere is kept moist. As the buds begin to open remove the 

 plants to a cooler structure so as to prolong the season of flower. 



Kerria japonica (Jews' Mallow), occasionally met with under the 

 name of Corchorus japonicus, has yellow flowers, and the silver-leaved 

 form (foliis variegatis), although not quite so vigorous, is very orna- 

 mental. The double Jews' Mallow (K. j.flore pleno) is the commonest 

 kind, and succeeds admirably in sandy soil. It is a good shrub for 

 planting against a wall and for grouping in the shrubbery. The bright 

 yellow double flowers are borne abundantly. There is another very rare 

 variety, named major) with remarkably fine double yellow flowers. It 

 flowers freely and continuously. 



Laburnums. Planted with discretion the Laburnums produce 

 delightful pictures in the garden. In spring and early summer, when 

 the long drooping racemes of L. vulgare, the common kind, are at their 

 best, few small trees are more graceful. In addition to the perfect 

 hardihood and accommodating nature of the Laburnums, there is scarcely 

 a soil or position in which they will not grow satisfactorily. L. alpinum, 

 known also as Cytisus alpinus (the Scotch Laburnum), is a fine tree for 

 decorative planting. It flowers late, and is of great value for this reason ; 

 it grows twenty feet high. The variety autumnalis flowers, as its name 

 indicates, in the autumn, and Parksii is another excellent form, with 

 slender racemes of flowers often a foot long. L. Adami (Cytisus Adami) 

 is remarkable because it bears dull purple and yellow flowers on the same 

 tree. It is a graft hybrid between L. vulgare and Cytisus purpureus, and 

 we have seen this planted in the hedgerows. Of the varieties belonging 

 to L. vulgare the undermentioned are the most distinct : Carlieri has 

 narrow racemes of flowers generally a fortnight after those of the type ; 

 querdfolium has deeply-cut leaves ; and foliis aureis bright yellow 

 foliage while pendulum is of good weeping habit. 



Laurus nobilis (Sweet Bay] should be planted beyond the influence 



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