l62 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



enjoy them for weeks in the house in 

 spite of accidents of weather. The little 

 Russian Rhododendron, too, a poor 

 feeble thing which our mild springs 

 bring into flower far too early, is so much 

 spoiled by the weather that few people 

 notice it; but if we take rather bold 

 shoots of it (as large as the bush will 

 bear) and put them in a vase placed 

 in a cool window they will flower for 

 weeks very prettily. The day on which 

 I write this fierce hailstorms are sweep- 

 ingthrough thevalley,and these showers 

 (which the early Narcissus, drooping 

 their heads, evade) destroy flowers that 

 are fully exposed. But cut flowers we 

 have indoors, safe from all such dangers, 

 and that without the use of any heat 

 but that of an ordinary dwelling. There 

 is scarcely a spring-flowering shrub but 



can be treated in this 



way ; 



even 



the 



Rhododendrons if need be, though in 

 many places they are more independent 

 of the weather. The plan is so simple 

 and beneficent to the plants as well as 

 to their owners, that it ought to be prac- 

 tised far more than it is; we may even 

 in this way do good to the shrubs by 

 thinning and opening them up — the 

 best way of pruning. The best vessels 

 for such work are of bronze or Delft 

 ware, but others will do. Some expe- 

 rience is needed as to the best way 

 and time for cutting each kind, and the 

 size of the shoots will want observing. 

 Generally the shoots should be rather 

 long and stout, and so arranged as to 

 show their form as well as the flower. 

 Shrubs like the Apple and Almond tribe 

 it is usually easy to get strong shoots of 

 without injury to the bushes, and many 



flowering shrubs also grow so thickly 

 that some thinning is desirable. The 

 way the single Camellia, grown out of 

 doors as a hardy shrub and cut for the 

 house when coming into bloom, de- 

 velops its flowers in a room is a precious 

 lesson of what we might gain if the 

 plan were carried out with most of our 

 flowering shrubs. 



It is not every place that 



Plant the North J -T 



Aspect of Wails has different aspects of 



and hillsides. i , i i 



ground, but where they 

 exist they should be taken advantage of 

 by planting on the north sides even things 

 that enjoy the south for the sake of pro- 

 longing their season of beauty. In this 

 way a difference of fifteen days may often 

 be secured in the blooming of favourite 

 shrubs and plants. It is not so likely to 

 add to our resources as the plans above 

 described, but it should not be neglected 

 where it can be carried out. There are 

 many things that do best on north slopes ; 

 the yellow climbing Roses, forexample, 

 which do so well on a south wall in cer- 

 tain districts flower even better on north 

 walls, and add much to the charm of 

 Rose-growing. * * * 



A Climbing Hydrangea. — In habit this is 

 widely removed from the commonly known 

 Hydrangeas, being like a climber, attaching 

 itself by tiny rootlets. The large corymbs of 

 white blossoms consist for the most part of 

 the small fertile ones, the sterile flowers being 

 limited to a scattered few around the cluster. 

 It will clothe large boulders with a network of 

 its long stems, and run up trees and walls. It 

 has many names — H. volubilis, H. scandens, and 

 H. petiolaris — that by which it is best known. 

 There are several otherkinds of climbing Hy- 

 drangea found in the Himalayas and in Japan, 

 and an allied but totally distinct plant, Schizo- 

 phragma hydrangeoides, with, which this is often 

 confused. 



