78' 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



time rather tender plants ; Master Cole cast a 

 blanket over the top of his Laurel in frosty weather 

 to protect it, hut though nearly two centuries have 

 since elapsed, not one of them will yet hear with 

 certainty our winter frosts. Though some of these 

 shruhs ripen their seeds in this climate, it never has 

 heen, I helieve, the custom of gardeners to sow 

 them ; some are propagated hy suckers and cuttings, 

 and others by imported seeds; consequently the 

 very identical Laurel introduced by Master Cole, 

 and some other of the plants enumerated by Parkin- 

 son, are now actually growing in our gardens; 

 no wonder, then, that these original shrubs have not 

 become hardier, though probably they would have 

 done so had they passed through several generations 

 by being raised from British seeds." During the 

 sixty-five years which have elapsed since the above 

 lines were written, so much has been done to 

 improve the Cherry Laurel, that the original type 

 is hardly grown now, garden varieties of stronger 

 constitution, with larger, handsomer foliage, having 

 almost ousted it. One of the finest of these is 

 rotundifolia, with large, short, dark green, roundish 

 leaves, a vigorous compact grower, in every way 

 superior to the type for general effect. Another 

 excellent form is colchica, with narrower, sharply ser- 

 rated, lighter green leaves than C. Zauro-cerasus, but 

 a good hardy kind which has passed unscathed 

 through severe frosts, and has proved destructive to 

 the original type. Cmicasica is another thoroughly 

 desirable variety, differing somewhat in colour, form 

 of leaf, and texture from colchica, easily enough 

 distinguished from that, but not so easy to charac- 

 terise on paper : it has rich, deep green, glossy foliage, 

 the broadest part of the leaf being above the middle. 

 The Versailles Laurel, C. L. latifoUa, makes a hand- 

 some shrub ; it has very large leaves. Amongst 

 the smaller-leaved sorts the most distinct is the old 

 Willow-leaved Laxirel, a dwarf -growing narrow- 

 leaved form which passes under a number of names ; 

 this is C. L. angmtifolia, which now, as in Loudon's 

 time, is found in some nurseries under the absurdly 

 wrong name of Hartogia Capensis. The last-named 

 variety is useful for winter bedding, as it is the 

 dwarf est and most compact of ' aU. The variegated 

 forms revert so readily into the green-leaved ones 

 that they are hardly worth growing. 



The Portugal Laurel, Cerasus lusitanica, is said to 

 have been introduced in 1648 ; it is a native of 

 Portugal and the Azores. Probably this is even 

 more valuable as a hardy evergreen than the 

 common Laurel ; under favourable conditions it 

 not unfrequently attains a height of thirty feet, and, 

 particularly when in flower, is extremely beautiful. 

 There are several varieties, of which the best is 

 azorica, a more vigorous, erect grower, with finer 



foliage than the ordinary form; variegata is more 

 constant in its variegation than any of the varieties 

 of C. Lauro-cerasus, but the colours, dark green and 

 dull yellowish-green, are not sufficiently striking to 

 cause the plant to be used much for effect in the 

 shrubbery. In good rich soil, particularly when 

 trained to a single stem, the Portugal Laurel often 

 assumes the proportions of a tree ; it bears cutting 

 in well, and can be grown into any shape. On the 

 Continent it not unfrequently is grown with a clean 

 straight stem in tubs, and the head pinched into 

 globes in imitation of the Orange-trees so dear to 

 French gardeners. 



The HoUy-leaved Ciierry Laurel, C. ilicifolia, is 

 not so hardy as the two other species above men- 

 tioned ; it is, however, a charming evergreen, well 

 worthy of a trial in the South-west of Britain and in 

 Ireland, where it would in most places prove hardy 

 enough to withstand the winter's cold. The dark 

 green Holly-like leaves are very pretty, and when 

 the plant is laden with its short erect racemes of 

 white flowers it is especially attractive. This forms 

 a dwarf compact bush some six feet or so in height ; 

 it is a native of California, and is a comparatively 

 recent introduction to British gardens. 



The Gean, or Wild Cherry, C. Avium, is one of the 

 handsomest of woodland trees in April and May. The 

 double-flowered variety lasts longer in bloom than 

 the single-flowered type, and is a very useful, orna- 

 mental tree. C. Caproniana may be looked upon as 

 the wild parent of the Morello Cherries ; it is a much 

 smaller-growing species than the flrst-named one, 

 and its double form has purer white flowers. C. 

 ChmruBcerasus has clustered flowers, followed by small 

 round, reddish-purple, very acid fruits ; it is a dwarf 

 grower — on its own roots it rarely attains more than 

 four feet in height — so is generally grafted on the 

 Wild Cherry stock. Like the two preceding species, 

 this is European. 0. depressa is a North American, 

 prostrate, deciduous shrub, a profuse flowerer, suitable 

 for planting in the front rank of the shrubbery. 

 C. Padus, the Bird Cherry, a native deciduous tree, 

 has long drooping racemes, and does well either in 

 the shrubbery or near water, in the park or pleasure- 

 ground ; of this there are forms with cut leaves, and 

 others with variegated foliage. C. serrulata, the 

 double Chinese Cherry, is one of the most floriferous 

 of all the species ; it produces its large pink-tinted 

 flowers in April. C. serotina and C. virginiana are 

 North American representatives of our British Bird 

 Cherry, C. Fadus. 



CerciB. — C Siliquaslrum, commonly known as 

 the Judas Tree, has handsome, smooth, kidney-shaped 

 leaves and rosy-purple flowers, produced in great 

 profusion before the leaves are fuUy developed. It 



