340 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
TREES AND SHRUBS FOR AUTUMN AND WINTER 
EFFECT. 
By C. R. Fielder, V.M.H. 
[Read September n, 1917 ; Mr. E. A. Bowles, M.A., V.M.H. , in the Chair.] 
The planting of trees and shrubs for the sake of the autumn tints of 
their foliage, their brightly coloured berries, or the colour of their 
bark in the winter, appears until comparatively modern times to have 
been chiefly confined to the Holly, the Mountain Ash, and perhaps the 
silver-barked Birch. 
Of course, we have always had the Elm — a cloudy mass of gold 
in the autumn, almost if not quite unsurpassed by any other tree — 
the slightly less conspicuous yellows of the Hornbeam and the English 
Maple, and the rich browns of the Oak and the Beech. But the Oak, 
Elm, and Beech, when planted in the pleasure-grounds or park, were 
probably introduced on account of their beauty as timber rather 
than for the autumn colouring of their leaves. 
A new era may be said to have begun upon the introduction of 
the Virginian Creeper in 1629, followed at various intervals down to 
the present time by the American Scarlet Oaks, and Maples from 
different parts of the world, those from Asia including the brilliant- 
foliaged Japanese Maple, Acer palmatum, and its varieties, with their 
curiously divided leaves. 
Many other trees and shrubs having coloured autumn leaves and 
fruits of varying degrees of brightness have been and are still 
being introduced, notably many Berberis, Cotoneasters, Vitis, and 
Viburnums from China, so that for some years there has been no 
lack of good material for the brightening of the garden in the autumn 
and winter ; but nothing like full use has yet been made of the many 
trees and shrubs that are available for that purpose. 
Although some of the trees I have mentioned have long been in 
this covfntry, their distribution appears to have been slow. The great 
advance that has taken place in horticulture during the past thirty 
years or so has, however, afforded opportunities for their freer 
use. These opportunities have been embraced by many, while other 
gardens may still be seen where the planting of shrubs for autumn 
colour has been almost entirely confined to the Sumach and the 
Ampelopsis. 
The splendid exhibits of autumn foliage shown in the Hall for 
some years past have afforded ample proof of the wealth of material 
that gardeners now have at their disposal. 
The best effects are obtained when the trees or shrubs are planted 
in groups, which may vary in size according to the extent of the garden, 
