114 THE CULTIVATOR. Aprhl 
HOBTICinLTlJ.lt & ¥. DEPARTMENT. 
CONDUCTED BY J. J. THOMAS. 
The Shrubbery and Flower Garden. 
Nearly all the flower gardens of the eountry are laid 
out in geometrical lines; a style, it is trueonuchbetter 
adapted to the small piece of ground allotted to flow¬ 
ers, than to the larger landscape garden composed of 
trees, lawns, and sheets of water. With a wish how¬ 
ever, to encourage a more graceful, pleasing, and pic¬ 
turesque mode of laying out even the small flower gar¬ 
den in connexion with the shrubbery, we have given 
the above plan, which nearly explains itself. It is 
merely necessary to remark, that the boundary of the 
grounds is composed chiefly of trees and shrubs, 
the more central portion being devoted to flowers. 
The latter is a very smooth and closely shaven green, 
around which the walk passes, the beds being cut 
into the turf and raised scarcely above the surface. 
Most of them are simple circles or ellipses, the shape 
of which is easily preserved; but a few are of the ara¬ 
besque, or the more complex geometric form. The 
latter are only introduced at those points in front of the 
dwelling, and of the green house (or grape house) at 
the right, and the circular seat at the left. 
The space thus occupied may be from a quarter of 
an acre to two acres. If laid out and planted with skill, 
it will present an infinitely more pleasing appearance, 
and variety of aspect, than the geometric garden. 
It entirely removes that most disagreeable feeling of 
constraint, with which one feels his mind fettered, when 
trying to draw pleasure and beauty from straight lines 
and stiff curves. But no one should think for a mo¬ 
ment of attempting this mode, unless he can mow the 
surface of the lawn once a week, and keep the walk 
as smooth and hard as a floor, besides preserving the 
shrubbery and flower beds in the best order. Less la¬ 
bor, however, is required to keep such a flower garden 
as this of a given size , than one of any other arrange¬ 
ment. Certainly we derive a great deal more of gen¬ 
uine beauty from the work of our hands, by the adop¬ 
tion of this than by the old-fashioned style. 
To give proper directions for executing sueh a plan, 
to one who has not looked into the subject, would re¬ 
quire a greater number of pages than we have already 
written lineswe must therefore leave this part of the 
subject, for the purpose chiefly designed at commence¬ 
ment, of giving a short list of some of the best orna¬ 
mental hardy shrubs and flowering plants, to assist the 
selection of those who, at the present season, may be 
about commencing small ornamental plantations; be¬ 
ginning first with shrubs, in the order of their season 
of flowerings 
Early Spring Flowering. 
Daphne mezereum (pink mezereon) is covered with 
a dense profusion of pink-lilac, flowers almost as soon, 
as the frost leaves the ground. Berries poisonous. 
Cydonia japonic®, Japan quince, is a shrub ©f slovr 
growth, but when several years old and full of its daz¬ 
zling red flowers,.it presents a mass of great brilliancy, 
and there is nothing at this season to supply its place. 
Amygdalm nana, dwarf double flowering almond, 
densely covered with pink flowers, resembling masses 
of miniature roses. 
Ribes aureum, Missouri currant, yellow flowers of 
moderate beauty, but delightfully fragrant. 
Skepherdm argentea, Buffalo berry, flowers early, but 
its chief beauty is the autumn, when loaded with red 
berries. 
Late Spring Flowering. 
Ribes sanguineum, scarlet currant, needs some pro¬ 
tection in winter-—its dense masses of fine red flowers 
render it very showy. A new double variety, is still 
finer. 
Xylosteum tartaricum , tartarian honeysuckle, flow¬ 
ers varying from white to pink, thickly sprinkled among 
its small glossy leaves, are unexcelled in beauty. A 
striped variety is exceedingly delicate and fine. 
Philadelphus grandifiorus, with its large clear whit© 
flowers, is more showy than P. eoronarius (syringo)' 
which however excels it in fragrance. 
Halesia tetraptera , silver bell tree, handsome pen¬ 
dant white flowers. 
Spireea hypericifolia, flowers white, small, abun¬ 
dant—pretty. 
Kerria japonica, Japan globe-flower, flowers double, 
yellow—often continues flowering till late autumn. 
Berberis vulgaris —barberry-—yellow flowers in hand¬ 
some racemes, with showy red berries in autumn. 
Calycantkus flaridus , sweet scented shrub, flowers 
blackish purple, valued for their great fragrance. 
Robinia hispida, rose acacia, large, handsome rose 
flowers—succeeds best in light soils. 
Syringa vulgaris, common lilac, purple, red, and 
white. S. ckinensis, Siberian lilac, is of lighter and 
more graceful growth, and when large, presents 
splendid appearance. 
Chionanthus virginica, white fringe tree. 
Early Summer Flowering. 
Viburnum opulus, snowball, well known for the splen¬ 
dor of its large balls of brilliant white flowers. 
Rhus coiinus, purple fringe tree, becoming remarka¬ 
ble towards autumn for the feathery investment of its 
large panicles, resembling elouds of purple mistamohg 
the foilage. Singular and much admired. 
Cytisus laburnum, common laburnum or golden chain 
its pendant racemes of fine yellow flowers give it a 
very elegant appearance. 
Symphoria raeemosa, sn© wherry, well known for its 
pure-white berries in autumn. 
[During this part of the season, roses make a most 
brilliant display. Among the thousand varieties named 
in catalogues, even a select list would be too long for 
this article; but the culturist may content himself, if 
he can procure as fine ones as the Queen of the Prai¬ 
ries , Baltimore Belle , and old and new Crimson Bmv~ 
