COLOUR IN MY GARDEN 



typical of the underlying spring colour tone, are "borne in 

 umbel-like clusters in the axils of last year's leaves." It 

 is graceful in form and even its slender branches embody a 

 pleasant colour scheme — " at first, bright green, smooth; later, 

 olive green, sometimes pearly gray; finally grayish-brown." 

 The whole plant is deliciously aromatic, and what a boon is the 

 rich spicy scent at this season of delicate manifestations! 



Earlier even than the Spice Bush comes the blossoming 

 of certain of the Witch Hazels. As the wistful flowering of 

 our native Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginica) is our fare- 

 well to flowers, so the Japanese and Chinese species are our 

 welcome to the new order, often before the snows are gone. 

 Hamamelis japonica forms "a large bush twelve to fifteen 

 feet high, with many stiff, ascending branches and twiggy 

 shoots and smooth leaves like those of the native H. vir- 

 ginica. The star-shaped flowers, each with five long, strap- 

 like, canary-yellow petals, surrounded by a calyx wine 

 coloured on the outside, are fragrant and thickly stud the 

 shoots and branches." H. arborea is another good Japanese 

 sort and Mr. E. H. Wilson, whose article in the Garden 

 Magazine for February, 1916, is quoted above, says that 

 H. mollis, a Chinese species with larger flowers, is the 

 finest of the genus. 



Surely these shrubs that flower during the bereft season 

 of winter should be given a place where those who spend 

 the winter in the country may enjoy them, even though 

 they must forego a few treasures of the opulent later year. 

 Ever eagerly greeted is the Pussy Willow with its gay yel- 

 low-tipped stamens, that, hawked about the city streets, 

 causes many a pang to homesick country hearts. 



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