260 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



Plants lifted in autumn and put into pots flower naturally towards 

 Christmas, on which account they are most useful for the greenhouse. 

 The variety lucidum, which bears large clusters of pure white flowers, 

 and purpureum, with its dark leaves, are worthy of mention. The wild 

 Guelder Rose or Water Elder (V. Opulus) is one of the most beautiful of 

 all shrubs, native or otherwise. Though the Guelder Rose is more showy 

 than the Water Elder when it is in flower, it lacks the autumn beauty of 

 the wild plant when it is loaded with the bunches of brilliant red berries. 

 The native plant grows by the sides of streams and ditches in a strong 

 alluvial soil, where it is often a shrub of rather rank growth and straggling 

 habit ; transplanted into drier garden ground it becomes a neater bush, 

 and most seasons its wealth of berry makes it one of the best things in 

 the September garden. It is a bush to plant by the lake side. The leaf 

 begins to colour at the same time as the berry, and by the end of the month 

 is a glory of rich crimson. The new species V. rhytidophyllum, V. utile, 

 and V. Carlesii should all be grown. The first is remarkable for its large, 

 handsome, evergreen leaves, flattened heads of cream-coloured flowers, 

 and red and black fruits ; the second is a very showy flowering shrub, 

 whilst the last-named bears rounded heads of white, pink-tinted flowers 

 which are deliciously fragrant. 



Vincas. The Periwinkles are trailing evergreen shrubs, and succeed 

 in dry as well as in moist soil. For planting under the shade and drip 

 of large trees they are used largely with considerable success. They can 

 also be relied upon for clothing sandy banks and rooteries. V. major 

 spreads quickly, its polished green leaves are pretty, and in May and 

 June its rich blue flowers are borne freely. Of this there is a 

 variegated form with showy leaves, and quite as hardy as the type. 

 The small-leaved Periwinkle (V. minor and its varieties) are not so 

 vigorous as either of the last-named; they are, however, attractive, 

 neat-growing trailers. Propagation may be carried on by division or 

 by cuttings. 



Xanthoceras sorbifolia is a Chinese shrub with deciduous pinnate, 

 bright-green leaves ; it grows about fifteen feet high when suitably 

 placed. Its cream-white flowers, stained with red in the centre, appear 

 in profusion in racemes just as the leaves are beginning to unfold. A 

 sheltered position and fairly rich soil encourage the best growths. In 

 cold localities it should be grown against a wall. 



Yuccas. These are amongst the most handsome of ornamental 

 evergreen hardy shrubs for general outdoor planting. They are quite 

 at home in the shrubbery border, and add colour and effect to the flower- 

 garden, and for planting on the outskirts of the lawn, as well as for sunny 

 banks and the rock-garden, few evergreen things create more beautiful 

 effects. For winter bedding, too, they are a success. They do not re- 

 quire special culture, ordinarily well-drained soil suiting them admirably. 

 They are not, however, partial to wind-swept positions. Y. gloriosa 

 (Adam's Needle) is of strong growth, hardy, with broad, long, sharply- 

 pointed stiff leaves and whitish bell-shaped flowers, borne on large stout 

 spikes. Y. recurvifolia, sometimes met with as Y. pendula, is of distinct 



