256 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



species widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, conspicuous during 

 late summer by reason of its branches of scarlet berries. It has numer- 

 ous pretty cut-leaved varieties, of which laciniata with daintily divided 

 leaves, foliis aurea with golden leaves, and plumosa aurea with showy 

 golden leaves divided into innumerable segments are the best. All are 

 rank feeders and are best planted in groups. 



Skimmias. These are good evergreen shrubs when in flower in 

 spring or when laden with their bright scarlet berries in autumn. They are 

 quite hardy, neat in growth, with large panicles of fragrant white flowers. 

 Plant in rich deep soil, and avoid cold bleak situations. In cold counties 

 it is safer to grow them in pots or plant out in cool houses in light airy 

 positions. S. japonica and S. Fortunei are the sorts most frequently 

 seen in gardens, but S. Foremanii is particularly valuable, as its large 

 round scarlet berries hang upon the bushes for at least twelve months. 



Sophora japonica is an attractive, deciduous tree, with sulphur- 

 coloured, pea-shaped flowers in terminal panicles towards the close of 

 summer. It is graceful in growth, and should be planted in all gardens 

 where a suitable position can be found for it, preferably as an isolated 

 specimen on a lawn where the soil is well drained. 



Spartium junceum (Spanish Broom) has been grown in this country 

 since about the middle of the fifteenth century. It grows to a height 

 of about ten feet, and is a shrub for planting in dry or sandy soil. 

 Racemes of fragrant Pea-shaped flowers are borne along the slender, 

 almost leafless, branches in late summer. For planting in masses on 

 sandy banks few shrubs are more effective at flowering time. 



Spiraeas. Amongst hardy deciduous shrubs of dwarf growth, few 

 offer such a pleasing variety of flower colour as the Spiraeas, which are 

 reasonable in price, of simple culture, and sufficiently hardy to stand 

 severe winters. Plant in fairly rich moist soil, and a position shielded 

 from the fierce midday sun is preferable to full exposure. Propagation 

 is readily effected by cuttings of the young wood taken off in August, 

 planted in sandy soil, and placed in a warm, close case for a fortnight 

 or so. S. hypericifolia, from Asia Minor, is a dainty species with white 

 flowers. Its long, slender shoots and small white flowers create a pretty 

 effect in May. S. discolor (aricefolia), a well-known border shrub, pro- 

 duces lavishly its cream-white flowers, in long, graceful panicles, about 

 midsummer. In order to see the full beauty of this shrub, plant it in 

 an open spot, where it is not cramped for space, as in many shrub borders. 

 S. media, better known under its garden name of S. confusa, has quantities 

 of white flowers in corymbs all over the plant. It is a twiggy shrub, 

 and largely used for forcing. S. prunifolia flore pleno, the double-flowered, 

 plum-leaved Spiraea, is a precious spring-flowering kind, but, unfortunately, 

 not much grown. Its small, white flowers appear in abundance. S. 

 Douglasi, from North America, is fairly well known. It has terminal 

 panicles of rosy-red flowers in July. S. Thunbergii, a Japanese species, 

 grows about three feet or four feet high, and in early March, sometimes 

 even in February, its clusters of fragrant white flowers are welcome. Its 

 autumn-tinted foliage is very pleasing. Space should be reserved in 



