138 
T II E G A R I) E X :\I A (r A Z I X E 
November, 1916 
around. The recently Introduced B. Davidii 
(variahilis) has won the sobriquet of Summer 
Lilac, because of its likeness in color and form 
to the Lilac; and some have dubbed it the But- 
terfly Plant because of its fascination for that 
insect. It has come to our Southern gardens 
to stay. 
The Tamarix with its feathery foliage and 
mass of small lavender-pink blossoms has the 
effect of a bluish gray haze and needs a back- 
ground of evergreens to show off its delicacy 
to perfection. It is most refined and beautiful 
in form, foliage and flower, and as there are 
many varieties there will be a succession of 
blooms throughout the summer, which gives it 
exceptional value. The great value to this 
section of the country is its midsummer 
blooming. An effective planting in the 
border would be an occasional Tamarix at 
the back and the Buddleias in front and a 
mass of the late variety of the Lemon Day 
Lily or the yellow Gladiolus in the immed- 
iate foreground. 
Another midsummer shrub is the Mim- 
osa, which blooms the first year after 
planting and when quite small. It is effec- 
tive planted in groups or singly; the dis- 
tance apart should be great unless one 
thins them out in a few years, for the 
Mimosa rapidly grows into a tree. Its 
fern-hke leaves are beautiful in themselves, 
and the pale rose pink, feathery blossoms 
are intoxicating in their beauty and frag- 
rance. The limbs reach out in a graceful, 
spreading fashion and, when the size of a 
tree, have a fountainlike shape somewhat in 
the form of a low growing elm. Old gardens 
have Mimosa trees, but the new generation 
of gardeners seems to have forgotten them, or 
perhaps easy culture of this and the Scotch 
Broom has made the cultivator indifferent 
to their charms. Dogwood and Mimosa 
trees planted in the parking of the city would 
lend charm as well as shade with their wide 
spreading branches; both, however, have 
more the character of shrubs than trees as 
their branches droop low and therefore would 
not be adaptable for sidewalk planting. 
Another shrub found in old gardens, super- 
graceful, drooping leaves and flowers and with 
low growing plants around its base; or else 
grouped in a shrubbery border with taller 
shrubs as background. 
The Common Laburnum is somewhat of 
the same character as the Rose Acacia, 
blooms when a small shrub and yet 
attains the height of a tree in a few years. 
The yellow pea-shaped flowers grow in long 
bunches like the W istaria and the leaves are 
like those of the white Locust, and the tree 
is as slender and graceful as the picturesque 
Eucalyptus tree of California. This, like 
the Rose Acacia, trained in standard fashion, 
would be adaptable and effective in a formal 
garden. 
1 here are several double flowered forms of 
our common fruit trees eagerly welcomed in 
the earljf spring. Such are the Peach, Cherry, 
and Bechtel’s Crab producing blossoms the first 
year and when quite diminutive, but also 
proving most valuable as specimen trees, as 
indeed they are most rapid in their growth 
and wonderful in their beauty, and worth 
many times more labor than it is absolutely 
necessary to give them. Sprays of Bechtel’s 
Crab lend themselves well to house 
decoration. Of all the flowering 
fruit trees the Japanese Weeping 
Cherry is the most superb in its 
beauty, especially as a specimen plant; 
but it needs space for symmetrical 
developement. 
Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius), a for- 
eigner that has escaped from cultivation and 
now usually classed as a wild plant, is not fully 
appreciated. Trained in a standard shape 
it is fine in a formal garden; and as a shrub 
for the lawn, in massive groupings, in the 
spring is resplendent in its golden shower of 
pendulous pea-shaped flowers. It has the 
added value of having evergreen stems which 
add color to the winter garden. Of easy 
growth It is adaptable to cover ugly sandy 
spots and hillsides. Plant at their base the 
native blue Lupin and you will be rewarded 
by a most beautiful color picture. 
Let us look now at the shrubs that bloom 
in the summer months. The Pomegranate 
blooming in August, has double 
white blossoms more interest- 
ing than decorative, and so 
Of the newer plant productions, the Summer Lilac or But- 
terfly Bush (Buddleia) has already become a decided favorite 
for effectiveness it is negligible. All the 
Buddleias have interest and charm, and 
those that die down in winter attain rapid 
growth by midsummer and many of the 
deciduous ones grow to the height of ten or 
twelve feet in a few years. The pale lilac 
colored blossoms have a charm not only for 
man, but for the discerning butterfly as well, 
and there is usually a flock of them hovering 
Not the least effective shrub for the South is the Scotch Broom, so much at home as to be 
almost a native 
The American Fringe Tree is unsurpassed in the beauty of its tassels of white flowers. 
Should be a popular garden plant 
