48 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[March, 



A DOZEN GOOD SHRUBS. 



The proper selection of ornamental shrubs, 

 with due regard to their suitability and adapt- 

 ation to soil and climate, as well as season 

 of inflorescence, is to every owner of a coun- 

 try place, however small it may be, a matter 

 of the first importance. The variety and 

 wealth of floral beauty derived from a suc- 

 cession of flowering shrubs, when once estab- 

 lished, cannot be gained as easily from any 

 other source. With a little attention to the 

 blooming period of those chosen, a continual 

 display may be had from early spring until 

 frost brings vegetation to a standstill. 



The following species are all hardy and 

 tried kinds, which do well in nearly all 

 localities, and are arranged in the order of 

 their flowering : 



Pyrus Japonica, the well-known Japan 

 Quince, is one of the very earliest flowering 

 shrubs, and produces a great quantity of 

 bright scarlet flowers from an inch to an 

 inch and a half in diameter, not fragrant, 

 but of exceedingly brilliant color. The bush 

 is not naturally a graceful grower, but a little 

 judicious pruning will easily overcome this 

 defect. There are also a pink and a white 

 variety. 



Forsythia riridin.fi ma, Golden Bell, lias few 

 equals, blooming in very early spring before 

 its leaves appear, and while there is yet a 

 dearth of flowers. Its leaves and bark are 

 deep green, flowers deep yellow. F. For- 

 tuneii is a newer species, of more compact 

 growth. 



Primus triloba, the double-flowering Plum, 

 and Primus Japonica, the dwarf double- 

 flowering Almond, are not excelled in grace- 

 ful beauty. They are white and rose-colored, 

 and produce a fine effect when plauted to- 

 gether. The flowers are very double, ex- 

 tremely delicate and beautiful, and borne in 

 such profusion as to cover the bushes com- 

 pletely. For small places nothing is more, 

 appropriate. 



Spircea prunifolia flare plena grows from 

 five to seven feet high, and produces a 

 mass of double pure white flowers, which 

 appear in bunches of threes and sixes, cov- 

 ering the whole length of the ash-colored 

 branches. It blooms in May, and continues 

 in flower longer than most shrubs. 



Syringa vulgaris. — This is the most com- 

 mon of the Lilacs, and also one of the best. 

 The flowers are produced in early spring, in 

 compact, pyramidal panicles of purple or 

 white color, and of most delicious fragrance. 

 There are numerous other varieties, ranging 

 in color from pure white to deep purple ; 

 most of them are perfectly hardy, and all 

 are extremely ornamental. They are readily 

 propagated from the numerous suckers which 

 they send forth, it being only necessary to 

 separate the shoots from the old bush. 



Weigela rosea, though properly belonging 

 to the genus Diervilla, is so generally 

 known under its old name that popularly 

 it will probably always be called by it. 

 This is, without exception, the showiest of 

 our common shrubs, and, if confined to a 

 single plant, no better choice could be made. 

 In rich soil it produces long, erect or droop- 

 ing shoots, which in June are completely 

 wreathed with a mass of rosy-white flowers, 

 varying considerably in the intensity of 



shades. There are several other desirable 

 kinds of this genus. JT. Candida is pure 

 . white. 



Viburnum plicatum, the Japan Snowball, is 

 one of the most desirable flowering shrubs. 

 It is of moderate, upright growth, more 

 compact, and more graceful than the com- 

 mon Snowball ; the flowers are larger, purer 

 white, and more compactly set. The foliage 

 and entire habit of the shrub is handsome 

 and pleasing. 



Philadelphus grandiflorus, Syringa. — This 

 beautiful shrub is indigenous to the United 

 States, from Virginia southward, and makes 

 a bush six feet and more high ; the flowers, 

 which are pure white and fragrant, are pro- 

 duced in great profusion in June. There are 

 several more fragrant varieties, but none are 

 as showy. It is a strong grower, and will 

 form a large-sized shrub unless kept within 

 suitable size by occasional pruning. 



Deutzia crenata, especially the double 

 variety, is rapidly growing in popular favor, 

 and ought to find a place in every garden. 

 The plant forms a bush three to six feet 

 high, producing an abundance of white 

 flowers, tinged with pink, in long, drooping 

 racemes. The dwarf single variety, on ac- 

 count of its size and free flowering habit, is 

 very desirable. It has bright green foliage, 

 and produces masses of pure white flowers 

 in early June. 



Hibiscus Syriacus, Althsea, or Eose of 

 Sharon. These old and well-known shrubs 

 I are of the easiest culture, and, blooming in 

 August and September, when there is a 

 scarcity of flowers in the shrubbery, fill a 

 place not occupied by any other kind. 



Hydrangea paniculata and H. p. grandi- 

 flora are invaluable as late bloomers. The 

 flowers* which are white when they first 

 appear in August, gradually turn pink as the 

 season advances, and at frost become a 

 brownish red. The large, dense panicles of 

 flowers are exceedingly effective, especially 

 when a group of these shrubs is placed in a 

 lawn to be seen from a short distance. The 

 plant requires considerable moisture, and 

 can be readily propagated from cuttings. 



Symphoricarpus racemosus, the Snowberry, 

 is to be recommended on account of its 

 large, glossy, white, wax-like berries, which 

 remain on the bush during the greater part 

 of winter. 



The dozen is full, and still there are many 

 beautiful shrubs we would not willingly dis- 

 pense with in the lawn or shrubbery, but 

 those named will give as varied and complete 

 a succession of flowers as can be selected, 

 are all of the easiest culture, and have the ad- 

 ditional advantage of cheapness, small speci- 

 mens costing probably not much more than 

 ordinary bedding plants. Ike Ivy. 



BARE SPOTS IN LAWNS. 



Nothing mars the appearance of a lawn 

 more than bare spots on which the grass has 

 died out. The cause of this is generally 

 standing water, for which there is no surer 

 remedy than draining. But frequently these 

 spots are lower than the surrounding ground, 

 in which case a quicker and cheaper cure may 

 be effected by carting on good, light soil, lev- 

 eling and seeding in early spring. Manuring 

 wet spots is of no avail ; but when the grass 

 fails on dry ground, an application of four 

 hundred pounds of superphosphate of lime 

 to the acre will make a wonderful change. 



|fe ||jilff |japfei 



AND GREENHOUSE. 



ROSES IN THE HOUSE. 



There are probably no plants which disap- 

 point the amateur more sorely than Eoses, 

 and especially when, allured by the promis- 

 ing name of "Hybrid Perpetuals," he tries 

 his hand at this class with the expectation of 

 having flowering Eoses the year round. This 

 "perpetual "name is a perpetual fraud. There 

 is no perpetual flowering about them : they 

 bloom in the "month of Eoses" as other 

 Eoses do, and that ends their blossoming for 

 that year, unless under special care and 

 culture they may produce a few solitary 

 flowers in the fall. 



The only varieties suitable for ordinary 

 house culture are the " China " or " Monthly 

 Eoses," and even with these the great diffi- 

 culty is that the usual temperature of living- 

 rooms is too high, and the atmosphere too 

 dry for them. It is true that Eoses yield 

 readily to forcing, but only after having 

 received proper previous preparation. Eoses 

 which have been growing in the open 

 ground during summer cannot be successfully 

 grown in a warm room all winter. They 

 should be taken up in the fall, cut back 

 severely, planted in rather small pots, in 

 rich, not too fine, potting soil, and kept in a 

 cold frame until the pots are well filled with 

 roots. They may then be brought gradually 

 into a warmer temperature and to full light, 

 and receive water more freely. But plants 

 grown in pots during summer, in full sun- 

 light, kept rather dry, and properly pruned, 

 are in every way preferable for house culture, 

 and will, with attention to their wants, repay 

 liberally for all the care bestowed upon 

 them. Eoses will do better in smaller pots, 

 in proportion to their 'size, than almost any 

 other plant. 



One of the most essential conditions to the 

 good health of Eoses is cleanliness, they 

 should therefore be washed and syringed 

 frequently; plenty of light and sun is not 

 less important. Water should never stand 

 around their roots, nor should the soil be 

 allowed to become entirely dry ; frequent 

 stirring of the surface of the soil is also 

 beneficial. All fading flowers should be 

 removed at once, and straggling branches 

 cut back ; no plant bears pruning better 

 and is more benefited by it than the Eose. 

 Sudden changes of temperature and cold 

 draughts are injurious; therefore, when airing 

 the room, the plants should be covered with 

 a blanket, or be removed to another apart- 

 ment. A sharp and constant lookout has to 

 be kept for insect pests, and, as soon as any 

 make their appearance, the plants should be 

 fumigated and washed or syringed with weak 

 Tobacco water. Toward spring they should 

 be hardened off gradually, by giving them 

 free ventilation on all mild days. 



To sum up the foremost conditions of what 

 constitutes success in Eose culture, we can- 

 not do better than quote S. Reynolds Hole's 

 incomparable words : " He who would have 

 beautiful Eoses in his garden must have 

 beautiful Eoses in his heart. He must love 

 them well and always. He must have not 

 only the glowing admiration, the enthusiasm 

 and the passion, but the tenderness, the 

 thoughtfulness, the reverence, the watch- 

 fulness of love." 



