SPRING-FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS. 



417 



The Laburnum (L. vulgare) is a tree so well known that I 

 need only refer to the best varieties of it, which are all much 

 superior to the common kind usually planted. The varieties 

 named Watereri, Parkesii, and Carlieri should always be planted 

 in preference to the ordinary kind. The selection should also 

 include what is called the Scotch Laburnum (L. alpinum), a 

 beautiful rich yellow, and with broad deep-green leaves and dense 

 racemes, produced after all the other Laburnums are past. An 

 interesting tree is the curious L. Adami, which bears yellow and 

 purplish flower clusters on the same branch, and it may be 

 obtained from all good nurseries. 



The Magnolias are glorious spring-flowering trees, particularly 

 the Chinese and Japanese species, which may be grown even in 

 small gardens. No other tree or shrub can rival the beauty of 

 the Yulan (M. coiispicua) in full flower ; the great ivory-white 

 blossoms are so plentiful as to make the tree a leafless mass of 

 white, twenty or thirty feet in height in fine specimens. The 

 varieties of it are several, the finest being those named Soulange- 

 ana, nigra, Alexandrina, and Norbertii, all having large flowers, 

 more or less tinted with purple, and were probably originated 

 by intercrossing M. conspicua with M. ohovata (M. purpurea), 

 of which the splendid M. Lenne is a variety. Every variety of 

 these Eastern Magnolias is worth planting, but preference should 

 be given to those named. They are capital trees for a small 

 lawn, as they do not grow large, but they must be planted in the 

 open, in good soil, and not in the shade. The very early- flowering 

 M. stellata or Halleana is a gem among small trees, being in April 

 and early May a mass of white flow T ers before the leaves appear. 

 The larger American species, 21. acuminata, cordata, tripetala, 

 and auriculata. are all handsome trees, but not so showy as the 

 others, and do not come under the definition of select flowering 

 trees ; but a place should always be given to the deliciously 

 fragrant M.glauca audits variety Thompsoniana,'Wkichtov several 

 weeks in summer bear large cup-shaped ivory-white blossoms. 



The North American Nuttalliacerasiformis is a welcome shrub 

 in early spring, bearing flowers resembling a white Flowering 

 Currant, which shrub (Bibes sanguineum) of course must always 

 be found in a good shubbery ; but instead of the common kind 

 the rich-coloured variety, atro-rubens, should be planted, and 

 may be grouped w T ith the white (album) variety, the yellow 



