PARK AND C E M ED ER Y. 
754 
wild state, being found from Japan 
to the Himalayas, and it varies con- 
siderably m the different countries 
in which it grows, giving rise to a 
number of varieties. The variety 
rortunei is the Chinese form and, 
with its sub-varieties, give the most 
attractive forms, most of them being 
various shades of pink, crimson and 
rose. Some of the tints are not very 
pleasing as they approach the ma- 
genta. The variety Anthony Water- 
er is a low growing shrub with crim- 
son flowers, not very attractive to 
many people, and is a variety of 
Bumalda, which in its turn is a hy- 
brid between Spiraea Japonica and 
Spiraea Albiflora. 
Spiraea Albiflora is sold by nursery- 
men as Spiraea Callosa Alba. It is 
closely related to Spiraea Japonica, 
and is a very useful white flowered 
shrub for summer. It grows only 
about 18 inches high. 
An attractive species which blooms 
in July and August is Spiraea Mar- 
garitae (Spiraea Japonica X Spiraea 
Superba) with pink flowers. It 
reaches a height of five feet. 
Spiraea Ballardi and Spiraea Alba 
are two tall hybrid species, of which 
Spiraea Salicifolia, our native spe- 
cies, is one of the parents. They have 
large panicles of flowers, those of the 
former being bright pink, and the 
latter white. They grow six feet 
high, and bloom during July and Au- 
gust. 
There are other summer flowering 
species which might be menticfned, 
but the color of most of them runs 
to magenta, a color which is not 
pleasing to many people. 
Thus, by a judicious selection, 
shrubby spiraeas may be had in 
bloom from early in May until Au- 
gust. 
HERBACEOUS SPIRAEAS. 
There are not nearly so many her- 
baceous spiraeas as woody ones. In 
the Kew Guide 17 species and va- 
rieties are mentioned, of which 10 are 
species. In addition, there are four 
species of Astilbes. The number of 
horticultural varieties is not yet very 
large. 
Like the woody species, the her- 
baceous spiraeas include in their 
number some of the most graceful 
hardy ornamental plants. Most of 
them are moisture loving and do not 
do well if the soil is dry. Accord- 
ing to recent botanical nomenclature 
there are no herbaceous spiraeas. 
What used to be called spiraeas are 
now referred to other genera, such as 
the genus Astilbe, Ulmaria, Aruncus 
and Astilboides, and we might not 
recognize some of our old favorites 
under their new names. In this pa- 
per, however, we shall call them all 
spiraeas and by their trade names. 
The herbaceous spiraea which is 
best known, perhaps, is Astilbe Jap- 
onica, known in the trade as Spiraea 
Japonica, and is one of the most 
popular and satisfactory plants for 
forcing in the greenhouse. It looks 
well in the house, where it should 
be kept well watered. It is one of the 
few' greenhouse plants which are 
hardy and it can be planted outside 
after it has done blooming. It does 
best in the garden in a moist, shel- 
tered situation. Its graceful, plume- 
like flowers and attractive foliage 
make it a very ornamental plant. 
There are several varieties of Astilbe 
Japonica, the compact form being one 
of the most popular. Astilbe Le- 
moinei and A. Thunbergii are two 
other species which are good for 
forcing, though not very satisfac- 
tory as garden plants in the colder 
parts of Canada. 
The finest herbaceous spiraea, in 
our judgment, is Spiraea Aruncus or 
Goat’s Beard, and yet this elegant 
plant is seldom seen in Canadian 
gardens. It is a native plant, being 
found wild in British Columbia. It 
begins blooming at Ottawa early in 
June, and its graceful, plume-like 
panicles of creamy-white flowers and 
fine foliage with its height of from 
four to five feet, make it a bold and 
striking object in the border. There 
is a cut-leaved variety of this called 
Spiraea Aruncus Kneiffi, which is 
very distinct, and is so unlike the 
species and is such a fine plant that 
it should not be omitted from any 
collection. 
Another strong growing species 
wTich requires plent 3 ' of space to 
show’' off to advantage is Spiraea 
Camtschatica, knowm in the cata- 
logues as Spiraea Gigantea, and even 
finer than the type, and the most de- 
sirable is Spiraea Camtschatica Ele- 
gans. This grows from four to five 
feet in height and blooms from early 
in July to early in August. The 
flowers are crimson pink in the bud 
and white with crimson pink anthers 
when open. 
A spiraea of quite the opposite 
habit of growth is the double-flow- 
ered Dropwort — Spiraea Filipendula 
Flore Pleno. This is much more at- 
tractive than Spiraea Filipendula, 
though it is also good. The flowers 
are double and pure white. The plant 
reaches a height of from 12 to 18 
inches, and when it is in bloom dur- 
ing June and early Jul 3 r it is one of 
the most noticeable plants in the 
border. The foliage is finely cut. 
which helps to give the plant its 
graceful appearance. 
-Another very line Japanese Spiraea 
IS Spiraea palmata of horticulturists, 
but Ulmaria purpurea of the botan- 
ists. This grows from three to three 
anei a lialf teet high, with carmine 
flowers, and like most of the other 
spiraeas is very graceful. Theme is a 
good variety wfith lighter thnvers 
know’ll as Spiraea palmata elegans. 
Somewhat of the same type, but a 
much stronger and taller grower, is 
Spiraea lobata or Queen of the 
Prairie, a species native to the United 
States. It grow's four to five feet or 
taller, has deep pink flowers and 
blooms during the latter part of July 
and the early part of .’August. The 
variety of this known as S. Vanusta 
has flowers of a deeper shade and is 
equal to or better than S. lobata. 
The last variety which we shall in- 
clude in this list is Spiraea Ulmaria 
flore pleno, the double-flowered va- 
riety of the Meadow Sweet. To be at 
its best this beautiful spiraea should 
be in damp soil, where it will reach 
a height of four feet or more. The 
flowers are double and creamy- 
white. This spiraea blooms during 
July and early August and is very ef- 
fective. The ordinary single-flowered 
Meadow Sweet is not nearly so 
striking. 
There are a number of other good 
herbaceous spiraeas, but with those 
which have been described one would 
have the best of them. In closing, 
we heartily recommend these grace- 
ful flowers for more general plant- 
ing. 
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH., PLAY- 
GROUND PROGRESS 
Grand Rapids, Mich., has everv rea- 
son to be proud of her few months’ 
record in the playground movement; 
and the park bond issue is hardly a 
year old and a permanent supervisor 
has been on the ground onb' six 
months. The city’s park and playground 
development is under the administration 
of a Board of Park and Cemetery Com- 
missioners. In a report of A. S. Graves, 
general supervisor, he says : “Perhaps 
the best index of the efficiency of a 
pla 3 'ground system is the attendance at 
special classes. This work brings the 
child into close personal contact wfith 
the instructor and leads to the acqui- 
sition of material benefits through spe- 
cial teaching. On the playgrounds of 
Grand Rapids for the past season an 
attendance of nearly 6,000 was distrib- 
uted as follows: Tennis, 718; swimming, 
683 ; gymnastics, 1,079 ; athletics, 689 ; 
folk dancing, 998 ; sewing, 1,765. The 
sewing classes drew large numbers. 
