RARE SHRUBS IN THE OPEN AIR. 



357 



The comparatively common S. nigra fol. var. is wonderfully effective 

 if grown as a standard (see photograph, fig. 47). 



Perowskia atriplicifolia is related to the Lavender ; it has silvery 

 leaves and delicate lilac-coloured flowers in autumn. It is liable to be 

 killed to the ground in severe winters, but grows again rapidly. I have 

 seen a very fine bush of it in Somersetshire. 



Philadelphus. — The name of these is legion, and dozens of named 

 varieties are to be seen in any foreign nurseryman's catalogue. Of those 

 which we grow I would pick out P. purpureo macidatus for its very 

 handsome flower, and P. microphyllus for its compact form and refined 

 greyish foliage, and both of them, alike, for their delicious scent at even- 

 time. 



Bupleurum fruticosum (Hare's Ear). — This, though very common about 

 the Mediterranean, is not often seen in England ; it makes a handsome 

 bush if pruned pretty heavily. The flowers are yellow and the foliage sea 

 green. 



Hedysarum midtijugum, from Mongolia. — This has pretty purple, 

 vetch-like flowers late in the season and finely cut foliage ; it is inclined 

 to be a ragged grower, and is the better for being " knifed " in. 



Dirca pakistris, the "Leather Wood" of North America, bears 

 yellowish flowers in March, but is not especially ornamental. 



Sophora viciifolia, though belonging to a family which makes large 

 trees in this country, never itself rises beyond the dignity of a bush ; in a 

 wild state in its native habitat, China, it covers the hills in the form of 

 scrub, and here it blooms freely in June, being clothed with pretty blue 

 and white flowers and small foliage. 



Symplocos crataegoides. — " Nicholson's Dictionary of Gardening " 

 calls this a greenhouse shrub — I think wrongly, for we have had it for 

 some years in the open, and unprotected, and it appears quite hardy. 

 Indeed, it has stood out at Kew for more than fifteen years. It belongs 

 to the family of Styraceae, and has flattened corymbs of white flowers. 



Aristotelia Macqui. — This is a very handsome evergreen from Chile 

 with soft red twigs. Our specimen is 7 feet high by 5 feet across. Nichol- 

 son says that it is hardy, and the Kew handbook says that it is tender. 

 "Who shall decide when doctors disagree?" But in this case I am 

 inclined to agree with Mr. Nicholson. We have also young plants of the 

 pleasing variegated form with dull gold edging, of which cuttings strike 

 pretty readily under glass. No one would think, to look at an Aristotelia, 

 that it belongs to the same order as the lime tree. 



Disanthus cercidifolia, a rare plant belonging to the Hamamelis 

 family, has done very well with us and is now 4 feet high ; the round 

 leaves are unsurpassable for rosy colour in autumn. 



Chionanthus virginica gains its name of "Fringe Tree" from the 

 drooping, sweet-scented white flowers produced in June. We have long 

 grown it against a wall and latterly in the open ; it is one of the Oleaceae 

 and succeeds well when grafted on the common ash. 



Of the shrubby Lonicems which we possess in great variety I can 

 only spare space here for three. L. spinosa (L. Alberti) has frail, grace- 

 ful, pendulous branches, and when grown as a half-standard might easily 



