ORNAMENTAL AND PRACTICAL GARDENING 



IN THE EDITORS GROUNI 



ALTHOUGH the early-flowering hardy shrubs, the 

 forsythias, have long been in cultivation, it is 

 quite surprising how many flower-growers are 

 yet ignorant of their beauty and worth. The common- 

 est form is F.z'iriiiis- 

 sima, usually known 

 as Golden Bell, and 

 it deserves to be 

 classed among the 

 best dozen hardy 

 shrubs in cultiva- 

 tion. It is a native 

 of North China_ 

 whence it was intro- 

 duced into Euro- 

 pean gardens in 

 1845. In habit it is 

 dense and spread- 

 ing, forming a hand- 

 some bush in bor- 

 ders or on the lawn. 

 The flowers appear 

 early in spring, 

 ahead of the foliage, 

 and from their 

 bright yellow color 

 and prof useness pre- 

 sent a strikingly at- 

 tractive appearance 

 among shrubbery. ~ — 

 As shown in the en- 

 graving, drawn from 

 life, they areof neat, 

 pleasing shape, and 

 being arranged 

 along slim, willowy 

 stems, are very well 

 suited for cutting 

 for vases, etc. On 

 thewriter's grounds, 

 near Niagara Falls, 

 they usually bloom 

 t h e lirst week in 

 May. 



But what renders 

 'his species of the 

 greatest value, per- 

 haps, is the beauty 

 and brilliancy of its 

 dark green foliage 

 through a long sea- 

 son. The leaves 



appear just after the blooming period, and hang until 

 late autumn almost with the persistency of those of an 



Golden Bell 



(FORSVTHIA VIRIDISSIMa) 



evergreen. There is a richness and neatness about the 

 foliage which, added to its other merits, entitles the 

 shrub to a prominent place on the lawn. The complaint 

 has been made that the shrub grows straggling and other- 

 w i s e ill-shaped in 

 time, but we have 

 never met such cases 

 where some tillage 

 has been given to the 

 roots — a thing easily 

 done when the plants 

 are arranged in 

 groups on the lawn 

 and the surface of the 

 soil is kept worked 

 and clear of weeds, 

 treatment to which all 

 shrubs are entitled. 



Forsythia suspensa, 

 also shown in the en- 

 graving, i s another 

 valuableshrub, differ- 

 ing from the first suf- 

 ficiently to make it 

 interestiug in every 

 collection. In habit 

 the growth is more 

 open, and droops 

 somewhat. While on 

 this account it may 

 be more picturesque 

 in the sense of being 

 irregular, not to say 

 straggling, this fact 

 serves to render it 

 more useful about 

 rock-work or in the 

 midst of plantations 

 of other shrubs, than 

 for a prominent place 

 on the lawn, which 

 F. viridissima so well 

 deserves to occupy. 

 The foliage also lacks 

 that peculiar richness 

 which is characteris- 

 tic of F. viridissima, 

 but its flower is more 

 lovely, being less stiff 

 in its form and dis- 

 position, and less 

 crowded along the 

 branch. The fact that the flowering shoots are erect 

 and straight in F. viridissima, while they tend to curve 



Larger Golden Bell (F. suspensa). 



