Plant Material. 
Good fall planting is unusual and few avail themselves of the 
many attractive trees, shrubs and ground covers that will pro- 
long the early autumn color and add beauty to the winter 
landscape. 
Many of the smaller members of the Salix group can be 
used to advantage in the background. 8. fristis has particularly 
brilliant orange twigs; S. Laestadina, only three feet, carries its 
"pussy ''-like buds in orange sheaths. S. alba vittelina Cher- 
mesina is a small tree, the new wood having red bark, and 
8. calliantha has pale green bud sheaths set close along a glossy 
brown stalk. 
Winter Comus stolonifera, Red Osier Dogwood, spreads by under - 
Shrubs ground runners, rapidly forming an impenetrable thicket which 
makes a good barrier and bank holder. Its smooth red stems 
produce a brilliant effect in autumn or against the snow. In 
leaf, flower and fruit it resembles the Red-stemmed Dogwood of 
garden cultivation, but its habit of growth is entirely different. 
C. stolonifera flaviramea, Yellow-stemmed Red Osier Dogwood, 
of exactly the same habit, has stems of vivid yellow green that 
become even brighter toward spring. It was found growing 
wild in New York State and selected by some observant person 
for cultivation. 
Ilex verticiltata, the Black Alder or Red Winter-berry of our 
moist woods and swamps, should be more used. Its long bare 
branches are completely covered with small scarlet berries. It 
is dioecious like all hollies, and both sexes must be planted to 
insure fruit. It is possible to graft a staminate branch on a 
pistillate bush and so obtain fertilization, but it is better to 
plant one male in a group of female shrubs. The fruit lasts late 
in the winter as the birds are not fond of its unpleasant flavor 
— in the south the leaves persist. Ilex Glabra, (Inkberry), a small 
shrub whose irregular habit can be pruned to a more formal 
shape, is a beauty summer and winter. Its dark glossy leaves 
are light green beneath, and the shining black drupes are 
borne in their axils. It has been grown in England for years," 
but is a stranger here. Another neglected native shrub is 
Sorbus Aronia arbutifolia (Red Choke-berry), which with its 
gray bark and pendent red fruit clusters produces a most strik- 
ing effect. Its leaves hang until mid-November and its berries 
until they fall, as the birds are not fond of them. By pruning 
out the old stems these bushes can be kept low and vigorous. 
The Ligustrwms (Privet), are more familiar in a clipped 
form, but as berry bearers in winter are very lovely, particu- 
larly when planted where their gray or black fruits contrast 
with the orange-tan bark of the Forsythia. L. ciliatum, from 
Japan, has a spreading form, gray bark, and large black berries 
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