146 PLAIN AND PLEASANT TALK 



ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS. 



A DESCRIPTION of a few of the desirable flowering and 

 ornanu-ntal shrubs for yards and lawns may enable our 

 readers to select with judgment. 



PRIVET. This is quite beautiful as a single plant ; but 

 is universally employed for hedges, verdant screens, etc. 

 There is an evergreen variety, originally from Italy, by far 

 the best. The roots of this plant are fibrous, don't spread 

 much ; the limbs endure the shears very patiently ; it grows 

 very rapidly, two full seasons being sufficient to form a 

 hedge ; and it will flourish under the shade and drip of 

 trees. 



ROSE ACACIA (Robinia hispida). This is a species of 

 the locust, of a dwarf habit, seldom growing six feet in 

 height, and covered with fine spines which give its branches 

 a mossy appearance. Its blossoms resemble the locust, but 

 are of a pink color. It is often grafted upon the locust to 

 give it a higher head and better growth. It should be in 

 every shrubbery. 



VENETIAN SUMACH, or smoke tree (Rhus cotinus). The 

 peculiarky of this shrub is in the large bunches of russet- 

 colored seed-vessels, looking, at a little distance, like a jmfF 

 of smoke. The French and Germans call it periwig-tree, 

 from the resemblance of these russet masses to a powdered 

 wig. It grows freely, and is highly ornamental. 



There are two other species of sumach worthy of cultiva- 

 tion ; the Rhus typhina, or Stag's Horn sumach, of a fine 

 flower, and whose leaves turn in autumn to a beautiful pur- 

 plish red; and the R. glabra, or Scarlet sumach, having 

 red flowers and fruit of a \elvety scarlet appearance, chang- 

 ing as it ripens to crimson. 



SYRINGA, or Mock Orange (Philadelphus coronarius), is 

 a beautiful shrub, having, in the spring, flowers of a pure 

 white, and of an odor only less exquisite than that of the 

 orange ; whence one of its popular names. Th$ leaves havt 



