April, 1906 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



131 



best known and is good enough to satisfy 

 the most fastidious, surely. It does not 

 grow more than five feet high and will easily 

 reach its maximum in four years from the 

 cutting, so even if very small plants are set 

 outfone does not have to wait long for best 

 results. My own fancy is to plant these very 

 showy spiraeas as isolated specimens on the 

 lawn. They are good enough to stand a 

 close inspection. How to prune for the great- 

 est quantity of flowers was told on page 225 

 of the first volume of The Garden Mag- 



azine. 



JULY — THE DETJTZIA 



In June and July we look for the tassels of 

 the deutzias. Of course this is also the 

 month of the roses, but they are as things 

 apart, not shrubs of the month for general 

 planting. The deutzias are moderately low 

 growing shrubs that bear a profusion of 

 white flowers and are especially suitable for 

 foregrounds or as lawn specimens. The 

 nurserymen off er hybrids under the names of 

 Lemoinei and Pride of Rochester, both of 

 which will give more satisfaction than the 

 older species. The first named is the one 

 for general planting; it is not only the show- 

 iest but is also quite hardy, while some of 

 the others may not be so. These make low, 

 rounded bushes of three feet in height. D. 

 scabra grows six feet or more in four or 

 five year's, but is not always to be relied upon 

 north of New York. 



AUGUST— THE SMOKE BUSH 



Really'a tree, but capable of being grown 

 as a shrub, the smoke bush or Venice sumach 

 (Rhus Cotinus) is a suitable addition to the 

 border for the dense masses of its much- 

 plumed inflorescences. Left to itself this 

 tree will reach a height of 30 feet, in time, 

 but it is a very slow grower. In the first six 

 years it will perhaps make a bush six feet 

 high at which it may be kept by annually 

 cutting back the current season's growth. 

 Left to itself it will in all probability not make 

 more than a few inches growth each year 

 after it has reached that height. It is a cur- 

 iously attractive shrub and makes a good 

 lawn specimen. Unfortunately it is attacked 

 by the borers. There is a variety with much 

 darker "smoke" that is known as the purple 

 smoke bush. The foliage colors well in the 

 fall, and it is a pity that the plant has fallen 

 down the scale of popularity. 



SEPTEMBER — THE HYDRANGEA 



The one flowering shrub that everyone 

 plants for this month is the hardy hydrangea 

 (H. paniculata, var. grandiflora) . And no 

 wonder, too, for there is really nothing to 

 compare with it. The rose of Sharon is a 

 hardy enough late-season shrub, but cannot 

 begin to be classed with the hydrangea as a 

 gorgeous flowering subject. I grant that it 

 grows taller and that there is more variety in 

 the flowers but for rich, almost luxuriant pro- 

 fusion of result give me the hydrangea. You 

 can prune this very severely in the winter or 

 spring and the more you prune the more pro- 

 fuse will be the flower, but hard pruning 

 makes willowv branches that somehow are 



June. The deutzias, low spreading bushes, generally with white flowers. T>. Lemoinei is one of the best. 

 These shrubs are best planted in the foreground. D. scabra grows six feet high in four or five years 



not in character with the plant — at least that 

 is my fancy. Plant the hydrangea alone, 

 not nestling among trees. It likes a rich soil 

 and will repay feeding with fertilizer in the 

 spring. It will attain a height of five or six 

 feet in four or five years from either hard- 

 wood or soft-wood cuttings. The type 

 species is a still more rapid grower than the 

 grandiflora variety, and taller, too. It will 

 reach six feet in three years from the cutting. 



OCTOBER — THE WITCH-HAZEL 



The American Witch-hazel (Humamelis 

 Virginiana) should be planted wherever a 

 corner can be found for it. During this 

 month and in November its quaint flowers of 



brown and yellow add a cheery touch of 

 color to the garden when there is nothing left 

 unless one has a few chrysanthemums. At 

 the same time as it flowers the fruits of the 

 previous crop of flowers are on the tree and 

 the noisy explosions of the bursting seed- 

 pods in the October days if brought indoors 

 are an added attraction to the tree. There is 

 another species that comes from Japan (H. 

 Japonica) which is quite different as it does 

 not flower until the early spring. The na- 

 tive witch-hazel is a shrub or small tree, 

 from ten to thirty feet, but grows slowly 

 after it has reached a height of eight or ten 

 feet, which it will do in about six years from 

 the seed. 



July. 



Many of the spireas flower during June and July. The bridal wreath (5. HJan Houttei) is the most 

 beautiful of all. Plant as an isolated specimen, preferably. Attains five feet in four years 



