30 FAMILIAR GARDEN FLOIfERS. 



certainly the most familiar, and it may be properly 

 spoken of as a splendid garden tree. The name hy 

 which we bring it forward is perhaps "out of date.'-" In 

 modern books it is usually described as C'l/donia Japonica, 

 and occasionall}'^ as Chcenomcles Japonica. In days when 

 county courts were administered by " commissioners/' we 

 heard a defendant repudiate a debt on the ground that his 

 name was entered in the plaint incorrectly. "Oh ! '•" said 

 the presiding commissioner^ "that is of no consequence; 

 you will do ; you owe the money, and you will have to pay 

 it." And in the same way Pi/riis Japonica will answer our 

 l^urpose, for we are more concerned about its status in the 

 garden than its name in the books. 



^'ery soon after the " turn of the year " this handsome 

 shrub produces its brilliant flowers. For that reason, 

 although it is thoroughly hardy, it should be planted in a 

 sheltered spot, and a dwarf wall suits it admirably. But 

 it may be trained to a trellis, or to a few rough rods like 

 an espalier ; or, if it have the aid of a stake or two, it 

 may be left without any training, and thus be allowed to 

 form a free, informal, flowery bush. 



The flowers appear before the leaves, and when the tree 

 is in leaf there are sometimes to be found a few of the 

 " quinces !" It is certainly not a fruitful tree, in the usual 

 acceptance of the term ; but old trees on warm walls will, 

 in a dry hot summer, produce a few fruits, and these 

 probably would make a good marmalade, or some other 

 preserve. We say " probably," because we have never 

 seen the fruit turned to any account, our own occasional 

 crops having been given to friends as curiosities, when, 

 perhaps, it would have been better to make the exi:]eriment 

 of ascertaining their value as eatables. They are nearly 



