4 
JOUENAL OF THE KOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Occasionally the Almonds will give a few blossoms. The Palm Willow 
(Plum-leaved) is well worth a position near water or in damp spots : its 
flowers at this time are most welcome, both cut and on the bushes. The^ 
Blackthorn of our hedges flowers with the Myrobalans, but April is the 
season of Nature's great awakening, and is generally ushered in by the 
Bitter and Sweet Almond in all their glory of pink and pale blush flowers.. 
In sheltered spots the double Peaches (Persica) are conspicuous, but in 
Kent they are failures; Among the earliest and brightest shrubs are the 
Forsythias, of which F. suspensa or Fortuneii is best treated as a climber 
or archway plant, when its bold-toothed deep primrose flowers appear 
to advantage. It is vigorous, and after flowering the old wood should he- 
cut out and the new growth encouraged. F. viridissima is a somewhat 
ugly bush, but it redeems its character by a profusion of rich yellow 
flowers, and is an object of interest even at some distance, especially when 
backed by evergreens. F. intermedia, a hybrid between the two previous 
ones, is more graceful in growth. 
The sub-shrub Mahonia (Berberis) acquifolia unfolds its yellow 
flowers early in the month, and is a conspicuous object. Perhaps some- 
forms in which finer flowers are developed may soon be selected, and suck 
will be welcome for their striking appearance, although the species, when 
given room, is most valuable. Nor must we forget the crop of rich violet 
berries it supplies in August and September. The double Gorse (Ulex 
europaeus) is too much neglected. Its beauty in a mass has few equals, 
and its honey-like perfume is most delicious ; we must also recollect it 
can be grown where many other things fail to find nourishment. Spiraea. 
Thunbergii, with its multitude of minute white starry flowers, makes a. 
great show, and followed by its pale green narrow foliage is grand for the- 
front borders. Rhododendron praecox now claims attention : its soft 
lilac flowers resting on glossy green foliage render it very conspicuous- 
There is a variety called ' Early Gem' also, and the allied but taller purple 
R. dahuricum is also very fine : both require peaty soil and some shelter 
from cold winds. Prunus (Amygdalus) sinensis, or Fortune's Double White 
Plum, is a neat dwarf grower, and the pink variety P. s. rubra plena are 
both most exquisite varieties, while a little later the P. triloba is seen. Its 
large double rose flowers are lovely, but owing to frosts it is more often 
seen as a forced conservatory plant. Perhaps of all our April shrubs 
Magnolia stellata (Halleana) is the finest, and very suitable for a warm 
corner where the cold winds cannot so readily mar its elegant bell-shaped 
flowers. The ever-esteemed Ribes is now to the fore, and whether we take 
the old one (sanguinea) or any of the deep red varieties, they are charming. 
In the whites that called albidum is the best ; and for pale rose, R. carnea, 
grandiflora. Genista praecox, a pretty dwarf compact Broom with its 
creamy flowers, must not be forgotten. It is sometimes grafted on 
Laburnum stems, after the style of a standard Rose, and is most elegant 
in that form. Towards the end of April we get a galaxy of blossom. The 
bright yellow rosettes of Corchorus japonica are too seldom seen : there 
is no better plant to cover a dead wall in a position where few things can 
grow. The evergreen Berberis, such as Parwinii, stenophylla, and dulcis, 
are glorious. Masses of the former are sheets of orange-yellow, and 
welcome everywhere, while the graceful stenophylla, with its arching stems 
