THE BOOK OF THE WINTER GARDEN 



INTRODUCTION 



Many of the beautiful shrubs now available for planters 

 are as effective during winter as in summer. Our climate 

 on the whole suits these plants well, and its variableness, 

 according to locality, is partly responsible for that de- 

 lightful individuality which is so conspicuous a feature 

 of British gardens. These islands, however, lie too far 

 north to generally permit of the open air growth of 

 palms and cordylines, so characteristic a feature in the 

 gardens of the Mediterranean region, and whose charms 

 we would like to add to a landscape already varied. 

 Their place is under sunnier skies, but by the aid of a 

 number of bamboos and several other plants we can at 

 least approach some of the peculiar features of sub- 

 tropical vegetation. 



Our severest winters do not cause the glossy-leaved 

 Mahonia to cast its foliage, and linger on the verge of 

 death, as happens in the gardens of Central Russia, while 

 the varieties of Pontic rhododendron, that have to be care- 

 fully protected with reed mats, etc., through the winter 

 of Northern Hungary and other portions of Central 

 Europe, here live happily through cold, hard frosts 

 only causing a drooping of the leaves. It is known, 

 however, that low temperature alone is not the chief evil 

 that plants have to withstand. Cold winds and periods 

 of sunshine, accompanied by sharp frosts, try plants of 



