September, 190 5 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



67 



80. The ideal way to plant the most popular of all the hardy hydrangeas and one of the very best summer flowering shrubs (H. paniculata, var. yrandiflora). It shows 

 its individuality. To get blooms liKe this prune lightly. Hard pruning gives much larger flower heads, but not so many. This plant is probably twelve years old 



nature and well drained they can be profitably 

 planted in the fall. 



HYDRANGEA FLOWERS FROM JUNE TO OCTOBER 



The first hardy species to flower is H. ves- 

 tita, which ordinarily comes into bloom from 

 June 15th to June 20th. The round flower 

 clusters (or cymes, as they are technically 

 called), which are seldom numerous, are flat 

 with showy white sterile flowers about one 

 inch in diameter on the circumference. The 

 fertile flowers are white but very small. The 

 cymes are from three to five inches in diam- 

 eter. The leaves (about two and one-half 

 inches wide and four and one-half inches 

 long on young shoots" 1 are covered on the 



81. An old plant of H. paniculaia, var. grandiflora en- 

 livens the bacK yard in September. It needs more light 

 at the base and more pruning to " clothe " itself better 



under side with soft, whitish hairs lying flat. 

 It is not as often seen in cultivation, unfor- 

 tunately, as its merits as a shrub warrant. 



H. Bretschneideri (H. vestita, var. pube- 

 scens, H. Pekinensis), which looks much like 

 the above, is a much freer flowering and 

 therefore more decorative shrub, coming into 

 bloom just as H. vestita passes, and lasts 

 from June 20th— 25th until July 7th-i2th. 

 The white sterile flowers on the outside of the 

 large flat clusters are usually one and one-half 

 inches in diameter. The fertile flowers are 

 yellowish white. The cymes are from four 

 to six inches in diameter. The leaves on 

 young shoots are one and three-quarter inches 

 wide and five inches long, with enough 

 pubescence beneath. Both the terminal 

 branchlets on the ends of last year's shoots 

 usually produce flower clusters, and one or 

 two of the lower buds will often do the same, 

 and frequently last year's branch will carry 

 six large cymes. It is perfectly hardy and a 

 very easy shrub to cultivate. 



About July 15th H. arborescens, found 

 native from New Jersey to Florida, comes 

 into bloom. The whitish flowers are borne 

 on roundish clusters on the ends of the shoots 

 of the year, and are all fertile, although some 

 times varieties may be seen with a few sterile 

 flowers on the outside of the cymes. The 

 foliage is quite attractive, usually four inches 

 wide and five inches long, and covered beneath 

 with glaucous hairs. This species is almost 



hardy; in western New York it is usually 

 partly winter killed, but if cut back severely 

 always flowers freely from the new growth, 

 and so makes a desirable shrub well adapted 

 to small gardens. There is a form of this 

 with smooth leaves (H. urticijolia, of the 

 trade), having the same flowering habit, 

 which comes into bloom about a week later. 



July 30th sees H. radiata. The convex 

 white flower clusters have always quite showy 

 sterile flowers on the outside. The leaves are 

 three and three-quarter inches wide and five 

 inches long, on young shoots, and covered 

 beneath with a dense felty mass of white hairs, 

 which gives the leaves a distinctly handsome 

 appearance. Being a Southerner, the plant 



82. Flowers right down to the ground ! This plant 

 has the benefit of all possible sunshine and is pruned 

 moderately. Three years old 



