An Old-fashioned Garden 141 



well-known pinxter flower {Azalea nudi- 

 caule) is improved by cultivation, and can be 

 made to grow " stocky" and thick-set, in- 

 stead of scragged, as we usually find it. Its 

 bright pink blossoms make a grand show- 

 ing in May. There is a little wild plum 

 {Prunus spinosa^ which only asks to be 

 given a chance and then will rival the famous 

 deutzias in profusion of bloom, and after- 

 wards remains a sturdy tree-like shrub, with 

 dark-green foliage that is always attraftive. 

 This, too, blooms before the foliage is de- 

 veloped, and hints of spring as surely as the 

 robin's song. A larger but no less handsome 

 bush is the white flowering thorn {Cratagus 

 crus-galli), and there are wild spireas that 

 should not be overlooked, and two white flow- 

 ering shrubs that delight all who see them in 

 bloom, the deer-berry {Vaccinium stamineuni), 

 and the false-teeth" {Leucothoe racemosd). 

 All these are spring flowers. And now a 

 word about an August bloomer, the sweet 

 pepper -bush {Clethra alnifolia^. This is 

 easily grown and is a charming plant. 



It happens, too, that a place can be found 

 for a hardy climber, and as beautiful as the 

 coral honeysuckles of our grandmother's days 



