248 THE GARDEN OF A 



shrubs. June may claim many that in late seasons 

 overflow from May, the newer lilacs (though they 

 are never so satisfactory as the old, that, straggling 

 into the hedges may be gathered by the armful), 

 spireas, snowballs, Carolina alspice and syringas, 

 while Deutzia, hydrangea, and althea carry the shrub 

 flowers well on toward autumn. 



Few things are so permanently satisfactory about 

 the home acres as shrubs ; and the commuter's wife 

 may find refuge, likewise her table decorations, 

 in them when mischance overtakes more delicate 

 flowers. 



" Shrubs are an awful bother to trim, aren't 

 they ? " said the Lady of the Italian Garden yester- 

 day, on making the first call after her summer 

 entry at The Bluffs, and professing astonishment 

 at the number of our pickable flowers. 



" We set out a lot two years ago," she continued, 

 " and certainly should have flowers this spring, but 

 you see the fault all lies in the trimming. The 

 landscapist that started us off said of course the 

 gardener would know which ones had to be trimmed 

 in the spring and which at midsummer. But it 

 seems he got mixed, and balled the thing up, so 

 the first year there was not so much as a sprig of 

 bloom, and hardly a leaf. 



