Mat 24, 1006. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



13 



Dion, cheap, easily-grown, hardy shrubs. 

 This precious heritage of bloom, with 

 which we are so richly endowed, should 

 be an incentive to effort to give its full- 

 est expression in every possible way ; for, 

 I am sure, given area and scope, we 

 may, with hardy flowering trees and 

 shrubs alone, make gardens and parks 

 of surprising beauty equaled by few, and 

 excelled by none in any country. 



Modern Gardens. 



Why should we spend time and money 

 in endeavoring to produce at the best, 

 weak imitations of so-called Italian gar- 

 dens, under conditions and environments 

 to which they are not fitted? These an- 

 cient and overpraised formal gardens 

 belong to a past age and generation, 

 where art supplanted nature because the 

 rich storehouse of nature was unknown 

 to the men of those times. Travel and 

 research have brought to us from all 

 parts of the globe, and latter day 

 hybridization has further amplified, a 

 %vealth of material that does not har- 

 monize with garden formalism, but does 

 permit the creation of a succession of 

 pictures, changing with the days and 

 weeks, for a long continued period. Let 

 the garden unfold the story of the year 

 and be a living floral calendar; so that 

 if, perchance, we could be unmindful of, 

 or forget, the actual period, we may 

 read it in the floral pictures as they 

 appear. 



We will noAV pass in brief review the 

 hosts of flowering trees and shrubs that 

 our gardens should possess, at least in 

 such part as they are adapted therefor. 



One of the earliest harbingers of 

 spring among the shrubs is the little 

 Ijonicera fragrantissima, its flowers in- 

 dividually small and insignificant, so 

 much so that generally the first intima- 

 tion we have of its flowering is when 

 we catch a whiff of its fragrant breath 

 upon the air. It makes a large bush 

 and early flowering and delicate fra- 

 grance are its particular attributes. 



Varieties of Forsythia. 



The forsythias come next, and no 

 words of praise can ever exaggerate 

 the beauty of these. Individually or 

 in a mass, in any soil, aspect or situa- 

 tion, they give us beauty of the highest 

 type. The oldest and best-known va- 

 riety is Fortunei. Although the cata- 

 logues make mention of F. interhiedia 

 and F. suspensa, the difference in these 

 is but slight. Forsythia viridissima, how- 

 ever, has more marked distinction in 

 habit of growth, size of leaf, color of 

 bark, and also is about a week later in 

 time of flowering. 



Simultaneously with the foregoing, 

 magnolias burst suddenly into bloom, 

 and what an array of beauty they can 

 give us! The entire family in scope 

 and importance justifies an essay on it 

 alone. First comes the graceful M. 

 stellata, also known as M. Halleana, and 

 how free it always blooms from an in- 

 fant bush, three feet or less in height 

 upwards, bearing myriads of fragile, 

 snow-white flowers, often sadly buffeted 

 by cold spring storms, yet we could ill 

 dispense with its short-lived display. 

 Another magnolia that resembles it in 

 some degree, but is rather shy-blooming, 

 yet, withal, one to have in any collection, 

 is M. Kobus, or Thurberi. 



Next comes the Yulan (M. conspicua), 

 throwing its great white cups open to 

 the spring sun; and a few days after 

 it, the gem of the whole family — M. Sou- 

 langeana. This is of hybrid origin, the 



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Magnolia Youlan at Garfield Park, Chicago. 



Yulan one of its parents, M. obovata 

 the other. It shows characteristics of 

 both plants, flowers abundantly when 

 young and in a shrubby state, and still 

 more aoundantly when it ultimately 

 reaches the dimensions of a good-sized 

 tree. 



The Best Magnolia. 



To him who is so unfortunate that 

 he can have only one magnolia, this is 

 the one he should plant. M. speciosa is 

 another hybrid with some strong resem- 

 blance to the preceding kind, differing 

 chiefly in its free-branched symmetry of 

 growth, having flowers not quite so large, 

 and it flowers a few days later, while 

 stray flowers prolong its blooming till 

 foliage is well developed. M. Lennei is 

 a striking beauty and, unlike all the 

 others, its great, cup-shaped flowers are 

 a rich, claret color externally, the flowers 

 heavy and listing, and their period of 

 duration and production considerably 

 prolonged. 



Then in the later weeks come other 

 great magnolias that attain to tree form, 

 but time does not permit of enlarging 

 upon these. The snowy mespilus and 

 Amelanchier Botryapium are also gems 

 of early spring days that enwreath them- 

 selves in garlands of fleecy white bloom. 

 The season advances and the Judas tree 

 next commands attention by the strong 

 tone of color it adds to the ever-chang- 

 ing scene. Cercis Canadensis we call it 

 by name, but how shall we fittingly ex- 

 press in words its exceeding beauty and 

 lavish profusion — ^twigs, thick branches, 

 aye, and often the main trunk itself, 

 covered with clusters of purple bloom! 

 Cercis Japonica, a Japanese relative, is 

 also distinct and showy, having large 



fiowers; but in our latitude, winter often 

 kills it, so it is rarely seen to advantage. 



Spiraeas. 



Next in the procession come the 

 spirroas; the first of this great family, 

 of which there are at least two dozen 

 species, is the double-flowered plum- 

 leaved Spiraea prunifolia. It ranks as 

 one of our very best flowering shrubs, so 

 profuse and lasting is its bloom. S. 

 Thunbergii blooms at tlie same time, has 

 tiny flowers, but in such myriads that a 

 mass of it viewed from a distance sug- 

 gests a snowbank that has not yet dis- 

 appeared in spite of the spring sun. S. 

 Reevesiana, single and d(,uble, is a good 

 species, while j. little later in its i.wn 

 time of blooming. S. Van Houttei is 

 easily the most graceful and most at- 

 tractive flowering shrub of its time. 

 Others follow in succession on through 

 the months of June and July. 



Another great family that, by close 

 relationship, suggests itself for asso- 

 ciated planting, contains the almond, 

 peach, plum, cherry, apple and the 

 Japanese quince. Think of the possibili- 

 ties of these alone for making a garden 

 picture of incomparable beauty! "Space 

 prohibits enlarging upon at least a hun- 

 dred varieties included in this great 

 group. Unfortunately, in latter days 

 we are to be denied much of their beauty 

 unless by persistent spraying we shall 

 eventually get the upper hand to the 

 extent of entirely exterminating the 

 devastating San Jose scale. Bear this 

 fact in mind in your planting: all these 

 ornamental tj-pes of that great natural 

 order that gives us our orchard fruits, 

 are susceptible to attack and quick ex- 

 termination by the aforementioned pest. 



