ORNAMENTAL SHRUBS AND TREES. 
7 
strikes us as the grandest ; next come Souv. de Louis van Houtte, with 
wider petals ; Leon Simon has a flattish corymb, very double and distinct ; 
Mme. Kreutzer, rich dark colour ; Lemoinei fl. pi. is also good ; President 
Grevy very pale. The graceful Bramble, Rubus deliciosus, with single 
Rose-like flowers, is a gem. In this month we also get the glorious 
Laburnums, with their lovely drooping festoons. For perfume and length 
none beat Watereri : the growth is rapid and the blossoms are very 
freely produced. The Scotch is rather stubby in growth, while the 
species Parkesii and Alsingheri produce very long but thin panicles. The 
Snowdrop tree, Halesia, is well worth growing, and the Japanese Xantho- 
ceras sorbifolia is a grand addition — better perhaps as a bush, as one 
can then look into the flowers and see their beauty, pale blush with 
golden centres. One seldom sees Ulex germanica. It is a prostrate 
form, producing very small golden flowers in the greatest abundance. 
The Spanish Gorse (Ulex hispanica), forming a round bush, is now in 
full glory, and is one of the best rockery or bank plants we have. The 
Irish Gorse or Furze forms a tuft of upright branches freely spangled 
with yellow flowers. The curious white fan flowers of Rhodotypos 
kerrioides now appear : it forms a pretty bush. The old Guelder Rose 
(snowball) is ever welcome, and plants that have encouragement at the 
root are most showy. The lovely evergreen Choisia ternata, with its 
glossy trifid leaves and white Hawthorn-scented flowers, comes to close 
the month of May. 
From early June and onward we get a fresh blaze of beauty, and 
Weigelias begin to flower, their elegant Fuchsia-like blooms, pro- 
fusely borne on graceful arching stems of the amabilis type, give a 
new interest to our shrubberies. Taking the rosea types first, which 
form compact bushes, the species is very fine, its flowers open blush, and 
shade off to pink in a charming way. The white variety, Candida, is 
well named, and the rich port- wine colour of Eva Rathke shows a great 
divergence. The largest flowers (almost Gloxinia-like) are those of Abel 
Carriere, a glorious rich rosy variety. Isoline is also very fine, opening 
pale and shading to a rich rose ; but the amabilis types, which have a 
much more free growth, are the finest : their wreaths of flower-crowned 
arching shoots are most lovely. The type is clear pale rose, and the 
variety alba has flowers like rosea. The Japan species, with pale 
green leaves, W. hortensis nivea, is a pretty white-flowered dwarf shrub. 
The Philadelphus (formerly called Syringas) now give grace to our 
gardens, and the long growths of P. grandiflorus (or speciosus), with their 
large opalescent white blossoms, are superb. Lutzmanni and Zeherii have 
similar flowers, but lengthen out the season as they flower later ; Mons. Le- 
moine's hybrids and novelties (represented by Lemoineii, Boule d'Argent 
erectus, Gerbe de Neige, Candelabra, a compact double form of upright 
growth), and later the scented microphyllus noted as a compact shrub, 
are all worth culture. The old double and single Syringas (P. coronarius) 
may now be dispensed with. It is curious that their foliage smells, so 
like Cucumber. The dwarf Deutzia gracilis with its pretty white flowers 
is fine in sheltered positions, but very apt to get cut by early frosts. 
D. parvifolia is a pretty hybrid of Lemoine's, and is of stouter 
build in flower and leafage. The shrubby ^loutan Tree Pa^onies are 
