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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



May, 1906 



much attractiveness in the individual blos- 

 soms. The leaves are shining dark green 

 throughout the season, and assume a rich 

 claret red late in the fall, so it is a worthy 

 shrub even for a small garden. 



THE BEST ALL-ROUND SPIREA 



Spircza Van Houttei is the most useful, 

 hardy, showy spirea, as far north as On- 

 tario. It comes into bloom about May 20th, 

 and occasionally, in late seasons, will be in 

 bloom the first of June. It generally grows 

 from six to eight feet tall. The stout, curving 

 stems are diffused into numerous pendent 

 branchlets, which are thickly covered with 

 small, flat flower clusters, and they form 

 a showy panoply of gracefully drooping 

 festoons. As a single individual on the edge 

 of a lawn, showing the graceful outlines 

 when in bloom, it can hardly be surpassed. 



ITS SOUTHERN RIVAL 



A close rival of Van Houtte's spirea, 

 where it proves hardy, and flowering about 

 the same time, is Reeves's spirea (S. Can- 

 toniensis, usually catalogued as 5. Ree- 

 vesiana) a most beautiful shrub, but unfor- 

 tunately not hardy in western New York. 

 It is sometimes mistaken for Van Houtte's 

 spirea, but can always be distinguished from 

 the latter by its oblong, lance-shaped leaves. 

 Also the individual flowers are larger, and a 

 purer, better white. Further south there 

 is undoubtedly little to choose between the 

 two. I have seen it in Baltimore in hand- 

 some bushes, seven to eight feet tall, whereas 

 it seldom exceeds three and a half feet with 

 us. The lower branches, that are sometimes 

 buried beneath the winter's snow, and en- 

 tirely escape injury, are exceedingly beau- 

 tiful, festooned to the tips with the pure 

 white flower clusters. About New York city 

 Reeves's spirea is a favorite lawn shrub, 

 and well-established plants are gorgeous 

 sights. 



A WORTHY DWARF SHRUB 



A neat little shrub is the scollop-leaf 

 spirea (S. crenata) which seldom exceeds 

 two and a half feet in height, and blossoms 

 two or three days after Van Houtte's spirea. 

 The branches are somewhat spreading on the 

 top, and give the bush a flattened appearance. 

 The small, flat and slightly globular clusters 

 are produced in great profusion along the 

 branches, but the flowers are duller than 

 those of Van Houtte's spirea. It is excellent 

 for foreground planting, in connection with 

 groups of other shrubs, and for small front 

 yards is about the most satisfactory early- 

 flowering shrub one can plant. 



ATTRACTIVE WHEN OUT OF BLOOM 



The round-leaved spirea (S. bracteata, but 

 known to nursery men as 5. rotundifolia, var. 

 alba). It is a robust-growing, intricately 

 branched shrub, with the young shoots 

 yellowish brown in winter. It is readily 

 distinguished from all others of the family 

 by the almost round leaves, slightly tapering 

 toward the base, very dark green above, 

 bluish green beneath, which is of thick, 

 leathery texture. It comes into bloom about 



the first week in June, and is usually in good 

 flower until June fifteenth. The small, flat 

 flower clusters are slightly cone-shaped. It is 

 a very characteristic ornamental shrub when 

 out of bloom, and retains its foliage green 

 and fresh looking until quite late in the fall. 



PINKISH FLOWERS ALL SUMMER 



If it were not for the magenta-pink color 

 of its flowers, there could be no possible 

 shadow of an objection to Spiraea Bumalda. 

 Magenta is not bad in itself as many think, 

 but it is used too much and in combination 

 with its enemies, yellow and red. It is an 

 erect, compact, neat shrub, from two to three 

 and a half feet tall, with large flat clusters of 

 deep pink flowers, which are quite showy, 

 and after all, it is perhaps the most useful 

 pink-flowered spirea in this section. Com- 

 mencing to bloom about June fifteenth, it 

 continues more or less in flower throughout 

 July, and if the dead flower clusters are cut 

 off, this useful little shrub will produce a 

 second crop of blossoms, and continue it 

 fullv until frost arrives. A marked charac- 



teristic of this spirea is that on all individuals 

 there are a few leaves with strikingly clear 

 variegations or markings of pinkish yellow. 



The form of it that you see everywhere is 

 S. Anthony Water er, a smaller variety, with 

 brighter, darker crimson-red flowers; it is 

 much used in small plants for edgings and 

 borders. 



A DWARF SHRUB WITH PURPLE SHOOTS 



The purple-tipped spirea (S. Japonica, 

 found in many trade lists under the name of 

 S. callosa) which comes into bloom toward 

 the end of June, or first of July is easily 

 recognized in early spring by the bright 

 purplish-red color of the young unfolding 

 leaves. Moreover, they are larger than in 

 the other species, usually one and one-quarter 

 inches wide, and three inches long. The 

 large, flat pink clusters at the ends of the 

 branches are much divided on strong shoots, 

 and occasionally as many as twenty-seven 

 clusters will form a broad, loose, almost 

 flat, top. It grows from three to four feet 

 tall, with stiff, erect, brownish stems in 



A universal favorite : the bridal wreath (Spiraea prunifolia, var. flore-pleno) . The single form is so much less 

 showy that people do not grow it. The best double spirea _. 



