Isaac Hicks & Son, Westbury, N. Y — Shrrbs 53 
An economical way to make large shrub plantations is to buy small plants one to two years old at 
$8 to $20 per hundred. Plant them 2 to 4 feet apart and cut them off about 6 inches high. Mulch the ground 
heavily with manure. The first season will show a luxuriant, dense growth of gracefully arching branches, 
whereas, the planting of large shrubs, 5 feet high, is liable to be thin the first year, especially if they are 
not well manured. Large plantations of shrubs can be made and cut down in the autumn, and will do much 
to relieve the pressure on the short spring planting season. 
Althea • Rose of Sharon 
(Hibiscus Syriacus) 
The Altheas and Hydrangeas are the most showy 
flowers for August and September. We occasionally 
hear stated: " I do not like Altheas; they have such 
an ugly purple or magenta color." There are, how- 
ever, a number of varieties with bright red and pink 
colors and others that are pure white. The Altheas 
are all tall-growing shrubs, attaining a height of 10 
feet or more. They are usually narrow at the base, 
forming a V-shaped plant when old. This tendency 
can be readily corrected by pruning when young. 
It is best to plant them at the back of groups of 
shrubs. Altheas makes beautiful flowering hedges 
and the annual pruning, when dormant, does not 
affect their blooming, because, unlike most shrubs, 
they bloom on branches of the current year's 
growth. 
Aralia 
Aralia pentaphylla. An upright, arching shrub, 
about 4 feet high, of the habit of Spiraa Van 
Houttei, with glossy and waxy foliage. It is not 
conspicuous in flower or fruit, but the color and 
texture recommend its use. 
A. spinosa (Hercules' Club; Angelica Tree). The 
second year on a new place will often show this 
to be the most vigorous of all shrubs. It is as 
vigorous as an Ailanthus, but nobody hates it 
as they do the latter. It sends up one or more 
thorny branches with finely divided leaves 2 feet 
long and broad. In mid-summer the top is 
crowned by an equally large cluster of minute 
white flowers followed by black berries. The 
stems are thickly covered with spines. 
Azalea • Rhododendron 
The Azaleas are the deciduous or leaf-dropping 
members of the Rhododendron genus. The delicate 
beauty of the Azaleas is as little known as their 
showiness in mass or the ease with which they are 
grown. The colors are pink, cherry, carmine, crim- 
son, white, yellow and salmon. Some of these shades 
clash with some varieties of Rhododendrons, but, 
as most Azaleas are through before the Rhododen- 
drons begin, there is little trouble on this point. 
Culture requirements are the same as for Rhodo- 
dendrons, — just leaf-mulch; that's all. Azaleas have 
the advantage over Rhododendrons that there is no 
foliage to carry through the winter. 
The uses and locations for Azaleas are numerous. 
For decorating woodland they are excellent, har- 
monizing with their surroundings. Most of the 
varieties are native to such places and there can 
be no more beautiful treasure to discover in a wood- 
land glade than the Azalea and Lady^Slipper Or- 
chid. To establish them in the woods, select a 
place where there is a little sunshine so that they 
will bloom more freely. Dig a large hole to check 
the competition of the existing trees. The Azalea 
viscosa is native to swamps where little hummocks 
appear above the water. Therefore, with the Clethra, 
Button Bush, Red-twigged Dogwood, Black Alder, 
and Marsh Mallow, it makes a solution to the 
Azalea, continued 
problem of what to plant along the edges of streams 
and ponds. 
Azalea amoena. See Broad-leaved Evergreens, 
page 68. 
A. arborescens. This is native in the Alleghany 
mountains. The flowers are white or tinged with 
pink and very fragrant. It is a compact and vig- 
orous shrub with shiny foliage. We recommend 
it highly for mass planting in shrubberies. 
Chinese. A. mollis. The Azalea mollis has the 
largest flower of any of the Azaleas, individual 
florets being funnel-shaped and as large as the 
Rhododendron. They are in clusters 4 to 6 inches 
in diameter. They bloom before the foliage ap- 
pears in May. Colors range through the yellow 
series, from pale lemon to salmon and deep 
orange. We have large, old plants that are well 
established, with large balls of earth. They should 
be used at the borders of shrubbery, and they can 
be used in the woodland, but the flower is so large 
that they appear less harmonious than the 
native American varieties. 
A. lutea; syn., A. calendulacea. This is named 
the Flame Azalea because in the Alleghany 
mountains, when in bloom, it looks as if the under- 
brush were afire. The colors are orange, orange- 
scarlet and yellow. It blooms in May after the 
Chinese and is a taller-growing plant. We have a 
group in the orchard 6 feet high and it seems 
perfectly at home there. An old orchard often 
forms part of the lawn, and in the semi-shade this 
and other Azaleas are very appropriate. 
Azalea mollis on a lawn. This gives the greatest show in 
early May, but some of ib colors are crude and it is sur- 
passed in beauty by the earlier Azalea Vaseyi and the other 
later kinds. 
