102 MY GROWING GARDEN 



warm. I have those wonderful "Uly"-cannas origi- 

 nated by that cunning plant-worker, Antoine 

 Wintzer, and they are worth having, assuredly. 



June is surely a shrub month too ! Greatest of 

 aU is the rhododendron, toward the end of the 

 month, in its waxy elegance. Just ahead my few 

 plants of the laurel — which is to be the national 

 flower of America if my friend Henry Turner 

 Bailey can have his wise way — ^give their corner 

 a pink and white glow. They need, I observe, 

 some sun to bloom well; the more complaisant 

 rhododendron will illumine almost total shade 

 with its blooms. Both must have leaf-mulch 

 about their roots to prosper here, and the hose 

 has soaked those roots several times in June. 



The later Ulacs and mock oranges are to be seen, 

 and the weigelas and spireas. Of the latter, the 

 new Chinese sort. Spiraea Henryi, previously men- 

 tioned, has bloomed, this month, in a most distinct 

 and attractive way, and is undoubtedly a really 

 valuable addition. 



I am especially proud of a lovely Styrax japonica 

 that is growing freely, and blooming its dainty 

 bells as it grows; for it is one of the over- 

 looked shrubs. It flourishes here in a half-shaded 

 comer, somewhat sheltered from the cruel west 

 wind. 



