20 MY SHRUBS 
also a handsome foliage plant ; while other fine shrubs, among more 
recent novelties, are B. sanguinea, from Mongolia, and the Hima- 
layan, B. insignis. B. gracilis, of Mexico, though tender, is worth 
a trial, and B. trifoliata, mentioned above, is also a Mexican and 
not quite hardy. One must name with great praise also B. Fre- 
monti, with glaucous foliage, and that bright little July flowering 
shrub, Wilson’s berberis, from China, with yellow flowers and bright 
red berries. 
Betula nana, the dwarf birch, stands but three feet high, and 
makes a delightful addition to my forest of little conifers. There 
is a pendulous variety of this mite that one would welcome. Big- 
nonia grandiflora is disappointing, for, while my specimen prospers 
exceedingly, and increases from year to year, its heavy flower- 
spikes are produced so late that the night temperatures begin to 
fall and the hours of sunshine shorten before it blows. Once, 
some years ago, the shrub did itself justice, and then it was a great 
spectacle ; but since that occasion only an occasional blossom 
has opened its splendid orange-yellow cup. Vitex agnus castus, 
the chaste tree, does the same. It prepares fine points of inflores- 
cence during September, and never opens them. The plants dwell 
side by side under a south wall, and no more can be done for them 
here. The Bignonia is worthy of a cold house ; the Vitex is not. 
Biglovia, sacred to Doctor Jacob Bigelow, author of “ Florula 
Bostoniensis,”’ is a hardy little shrub from California, which hangs 
out modest yellow panicles in summer and likes half shade ; while 
Billardiera scandens, from New South Wales, is about the only 
native fruit of Australia—a little pretty berry, which follows a 
drooping flower. It is a climber for a cold house, and no addition 
to dessert even at its best. 
