CULTIVATED SPIRAEAS 



CULTIVATED SPIRAEAS 



Apart from the native species which appear now 

 and then in cultivation, there is a large number of dis- 

 tinctively garden Spiraeas of great hardiness and of 

 surpassing beauty. Time would fail to tell the tale of 

 their loveliness ; nor could space be allotted to make 

 even a complete list of their numbers. There are, 

 however, a few that stand out preeminent, and al- 

 though their number may be enlarged by future 

 hybrids and seedlings, it is scarcely conceivable that 

 these should be supplanted. Grace, delicacy, per- 

 sonal charm and exquisite beauty may perhaps be per- 

 mitted to hold their own against mere bigness at 

 least in the vegetable world. 



We mention first, because it blossoms first, that spe- 

 cies of rare and delicate beauty known as Spircea thun- 

 bergii. The books report it as a dwarf, but when well 

 placed and well fed it rises in compact and graceful 

 form to the height of five feet. Of the entire group it 

 is the first to bloom, coming out with ForsytJiia and 

 Magnolia stellata. The leaves are one to two inches 

 long, a quarter of an inch wide, and of a peculiar, 

 pale, yellow green. It holds this airy foliage bright 

 and clean throughout the summer; and when autumn 

 comes, after many of its companions stand bare and 

 leafless, it clothes itself first in purple bronze and then 

 in orange and scarlet, and stands a figure of beauty 

 until overwhelmed by the autumn storms. In its Jap- 

 anese home it loves the rocky hillsides and high 

 mountain valleys, and is widely distributed through- 

 out the islands. 



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