May, 1906 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



207 



First type, the small flat cluster. Example Spiraea 

 Van Houtiei, "the best all-round spirea " 



Any common garden soil, light or heavy, wet 

 or dry, it seems, will answer for the spireas . 

 the one essential condition being that it con- 

 tain sufficient humus to preserve an ordinary 

 supply of moisture. They are sometimes 

 bothered by green or black fly, which must 

 be fought with kerosene emulsion, or other 

 suitable insecticide. (See March Garden 

 Magazine, page 65). These- aphides are 

 persistent pests, and spraying must be done 

 several times. Scale will sometimes be found 

 on the late-blooming kinds, for which I have 

 found a 20 per cent, mixture of crude pe- 

 troleum or kerosene sprayed on in late winter 

 is thoroughly effective. 



HOW TO HAVE THE MOST FLOWERS 



The early-blooming species (those that 

 will flower before the middle of June) bear 

 their flowers on the young wood which is 

 formed the previous season — therefore if 

 you prune these species in early spring you 

 throw away a lot of flower buds. Imme- 

 diately after they are through blooming, cut 



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out the old flowering shoots, to leave room 

 for the younger ones to grow and form their 

 buds for the following season's bloom. I 

 do not advise any more attention until the 

 winter, when surplus branches in crowded 

 bushes can be cut out. 



The late-blooming kinds flower on the 

 growth of the current year, which is made in 

 the spring and summer. If the shoots are 

 cut back one-fourth or one-half during the 

 winter, they will flower all the more strongly 

 in the summer. They may even be cut 

 right to the ground, but if the bushes are 

 healthy, there is nothing to be gained by this 

 treatment. Remove the flower clusters as 

 soon as the blooming season is over. 



THE TWO EARLIEST SPIREAS 



Thunberg's spirea (Spircea Thunbergi) is 

 the earliest to bloom, beginning at the end of 

 April, and is usually at its best with me 

 about the fifth or sixth of May. It grows 

 about five feet tall, and forms a dense, spread- 

 ing, graceful bush, with the numerous 

 branchlets at the ends of the branches form- 

 ing a fine spray, thickly covered with white 







Third type, ropes of bloom. Example, S. aryuta 

 showier but less common than S. Thunbergi, of 

 which it is a hybrid. 



Second type, the large flat cluster, of which the 

 most famous (or infamous) example is Anthony 

 Waterer. This is S. albiflora, another late blooming 

 species of upright habit, very different from the 

 arching grace of the first type 



flowers. Throughout the season, when not 

 in bloom, this spirea, with its delicate olive- 

 green foliage, which in the fall turns to 

 orange red, is perhaps the most ornamental 

 of the entire family. No wonder it is a 

 favorite where it succeeds, but unfortunately 

 it is not quite hardy in Western New York 

 and the tips of the branches are sometimes 

 injured in severe winters. 



Blooming two or three days later than 

 Thunberg's spirea when they are grown side 

 by side, and as a garden plant perhaps far 

 better, is the large-flowered hardy Spircea 

 arguta, a hybrid from Thunberg's spirea. 

 In general appearance, when young, the 

 plant resembles its parent, but it has a stiffer 

 and more erect habit of growth, and in time 

 reaches a height of from five to seven feet. 

 The leaves, too, are larger, and deeper green. 

 The flowers are produced in the same man- 

 ner in both plants, but the individual flow- 

 ers of the showy S. arguta are larger. An- 

 other advantage is its perfect hardiness, 

 and when the branches are clothed to the 

 tips with white blossoms, they look like 



Fourth type, the dense narrow pyramid. At left S. 

 Lenneana; at right S. cMenziesii 



a mass of floral ropes. With all these ad- 

 vantages, however, Thunberg's spirea is the 

 better plant when out of bloom. 



THE BEST DOUBLE-FLOWERED SPECIES 



There are only two double-flowered 

 spireas in cultivation. The very popular one 

 known as Bridal-wreath {Spircea prunifolia, 

 var. flore-pleno) is better than the double 

 form of S. Cantoniensis. Indeed there is no 

 good reason for growing a second. It is 

 usually in full flower about the tenth or 

 twelfth of May. It grows from six to eight 

 feet tall, and in rich soil on Long Island I 

 have seen it ten feet in height, but that 

 is unusual. The branches are slightly 

 arching, and the individual white flowers 

 in clusters along the branches look like 

 miniature buttons. The best effect of a 

 well-grown specimen of this spirea is at 

 some distance from it; then it looks 

 beautiful indeed. At close range there is not 



Fifth type, the loose pyramid of which S. aiba 

 is an example. This is Spiraea ariaefolia of the nur- 

 series, which should now be called Schizonoius 

 discolor var. ariaefolius 



THE FIVE TYPES OF FLOWER-CLUSTEFV IN SPIREA WITHOUT THE BOTANICAL CANT 



