MY SHRUBS ii 



little natural dwarf trees ; but some grow to a good size, though 

 slowly. Beside Como, I saw a drift of these purple maples planted 

 with blue conifers. They made noble colour, and now I have a 

 purple maple and a sky-blue abies side by side. A sheaf of purple 

 gladiolus supports them, and completes the little picture. Acer 

 negundo is always welcome against a background of shadow or 

 evergreen, and others I grow for the autumn colour they take. 

 A. saccharinum, the sugar maple, is no longer a shrub, and will 

 soon reach an altitude when we shall have to part. It is one of 

 the first of things to light the flaming autumn signals. 



Actinidia is a small genus, and as yet I have only seen A. volubilis 

 from Japan and A. chinensis flower here. The first is a fine climber, 

 and the trusses of snowy little bell-like blossoms are beautiful. A. 

 chinensis is also a grand climbing plant, and its furry crimson leaves 

 in spring atone for a tardiness in flowering. Its yellow blossoms 

 are not striking ; perhaps they will be followed by a dessert of 

 pleasant fruits some day. I wait in trust and hope for this de- 

 layed bounty. A. Henryi is the latest of the company to appear 

 in England, and it sounds not much different from the last named. 



The family of Adenocarpus is scattered through the Canary 

 Islands, Spain, and South of France. It affords no opportunities 

 for great enthusiasm. A. anagyrus, from Teneriffe, is a fairly 

 hardy evergreen of peculiar habit, with tufts of yellow pea-blossoms ; 

 but I should not miss it. 



lEsculus parviflora, the buck-eye, makes a beautiful little tree 

 with spires of feathery white and pink blossom, like a fairy horse- 

 chestnut. It fruits late, and as yet I have not gleaned ripe nuts 

 from it. The word is Pliny's, given by him to an oak with edible 

 acorns. But eesculus, though esculent in letter, is not in truth. 



