RARE SHRUBS IN THE OPEN AIR. 



347 



RARE SHRUBS IN THE OPEN AIR. 

 By the Hon. Vicary Gibbs. 

 [Lecture delivered July 23, 1907.] 



I have been asked to read a paper on trees and shrubs growing at 

 Aldenham, in Hertfordshire, with a view to making more widely known 

 how large is the variety which can be successfully cultivated where the 

 conditions are not specially favourable, and where, indeed, a cold clay 

 soil and severe frosts in late spring militate against plant life. To 

 confine this paper within reasonable limits I have found myself compelled 

 to exclude many interesting classes of plants which we have in our 

 garden as follows : — 



1. All trees, not merely timber trees, but smaller types, such as 

 Z anthoxylum, Idesia, Phellodendron, &c. 



2. All shrubs necessitating peat, such as Pieris, Andromeda, 

 Rhododendron, &c. 



3. All shrubs that in our climate die down every winter, such as 

 Clerodendron foetidum, Fuchsia reflexa, Rosea Amherstiana, Lespedeza 

 Sieboldii, Desmodium tiliaefolium, &c. - 



4. All Conifers, such as Saxegothaea, Prumnopitys, Podocarpus, &c. 



5. All Bamboos, Arundo, and grasses of any kind. 



6. All creepers, such as Rerchemia, Muehlenbeckia, &c. 



7. All rock plants, sub-shrubs, or bushy herbs, such as Helianthemum, 

 Hyssop, Wormwood, &c. 



Of course I am well aware that there is no scientific distinction 

 between trees and shrubs, and that the tree of one country is the 

 shrub of another ; and, further, I have little doubt that I have 

 included some plants, which I only know in their young state, that 

 may, later on, have a claim to be considered as small trees. The dis- 

 tinction between shrubs and shrubby herbs is, I admit, also equally 

 arbitrary. I shall, however, confine myself to the rarer specimens of 

 what are ordinarily looked upon as bushes, with which we succeed, and 

 even so the list will be long enough to try the patience of any but 

 enthusiasts. 



Rerberis. — We have a great many different species and varieties of 

 this attractive shrub, and all of them, with the exception of R. Fortunei 

 and R. Fremontii, are absolutely hardy and vigorous. Of the rarer ever- 

 green forms the former has refined foliage but requires a wall, and the 

 latter has an upright growth and long, narrow leaflets, and very distinct 

 appearance. R. rotundifolia Herveyi is a round-leaved form of Mahonia. 

 R. fascicularis is of a glaucous tint, and has seven small leaflets with 

 marked spiny edges and an upright growth ; the finest specimen of 

 this which I have ever seen is in Canon Ellacombe's beautiful garden 

 at Bitton. R. Neuberti, known to nurserymen as R. ilicifolia, is a hand- 

 some shrub, also of glaucous tone. R. nervosa, an evergreen from North 

 America, is worth having. R. Knightii is a large-leaved form of 



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