14 
A FEW FLOWERS 
I'lie Maiden Hair Tree (Salisburia adiantifolia) grows freely in almost any soil, and with its fine shaped 
leaves of deep rich green is a very desirable tree. As it rarely attains a great size, may be used on quite a small lawn 
The .Japanese Maples, on account of their slow growth, might more properly be considered shrubs than 
trees, the. taller varieties rarely ever attaining a height of over eight or ten feet, while some of the dwarfer sorts 
do not become more than two or three feet high in twenty years. They are remarkable for the beauty and the 
great diversity in shape and color of their leaves. No description can give any conception of the beauty of their 
lace-like foliage of many lovely colors—purples, pinks, and even whites, delicately and richly combined with 
green. The heat of midsummer dulls the lovely tints, but the young growth in June and the decaying leaves 
in October, show wonderful and lovely variations of color. 
A native tree that one rarely sees, except in the wild state, is the common Wild Crab Apple, and there is no 
lovelier or sweeter spring flower, with its masses of odorous pink lmds and blossoms. Indeed, our woods and 
wilds furnish many fine (lowering trees that could lie well added to collections of common Poplars, Maples and 
Pines, usually so plentifully planted. 
Aralia spinosa is a wonderfully attractive low-growing tree, seldom attaining a height of more than twenty 
feet; its trunk is thickly covered with strong spines; the foliage is extremely handsome; it produces immense 
panicles of white flowers in August, and is really tropical in appearance. 
Betula urtieifolia is a weeping cut-leaf birch, deeply laciniated, and is quite handsome. 
fatal pa Bungei.—This admirable tree, when better known, will certainly lie in great request — for lawns and 
all ornamental grounds a new and beautiful tree. 
Of this same family, Catalpa aurea, is a tine golden-leaved sort. 
The Weeping Sophora is one of the finest of small pendulous trees. The foliage is Acacia-like, and of a 
remarkably soft and pleasinggreen, while the young branches are green and somewhat angular, so that in winter 
the tree has a knotted and curious look. 
Oymnoclades Canadensis (Kentucky (toffee Tree) is a small-growing tree with extremely handsome foliage; 
each main leaf stalk hears from four to seven pairs of compound leaves; the leaflets are of bluish green. 
Cornus Floridus.—The Common White I>og Wood is too well known to require a description, but is worthy 
a place in almost any collection. 
Cornus floridus rubra, the Red-Flowered Dog Wood, is a beautiful novelty, and should he in every collec¬ 
tion, no matter how small. If is similar in habit of growth to the White Dog Wood, but the flowers are bright 
pink, and exceedingly effective. 
1 he Hawthorns are beautiful low-growing trees w ith pretty foliage, and producing myriads of flowers, 
w Inch, with their bright foliage, form a handsome picture. 
And if hut little is known of the rarer deciduous trees, what shall we say of the Conifers, or Evergreens? 
One can count on the fingers of one hand the varieties that are commonly used, although there is here the 
greatest wealth of variety, and some of such fine form and beautiful foliage as to be worthy of a place in the 
conservatory, and then they are, with their perennial verdure, so effective in the winter landscape. 
The Andromeda fioribunda is a charming dwarf evergreen shrub; it is difficult to propagate, and there- 
loic scarce. 1 lie loaves resemble those of the Privet in size and form Flowers produced in great profusion in 
May and June, in racemes well projected beyond the leaves. Daphne cneorum is an evergreen dwarf shrub or 
trailing plant, of great beauty. The (lowers are a bright [link color, and are freely produced in spring,and again 
in September. 
All are familiar with the Norway Spruce, which is so plentifully planted, but how many have seen the 
weeping form of it, with its graceful abandon, which is simply beautiful, and its peculiar and effective drooping 
habit? 
Or how many have seen the \\ eeping Hemlock, which is the choicest of evergreens, and makes a beautiful 
evergreen fountain? 
Now, there are two grand evergreens that no collection should be without. One of these is Parson’s Silver 
lii. E\ciyt.hing about its appearance is solid, rich, and picturesque, the masses being peculiarly interesting 
and ettiaeti\o. Ihe other is Nordman s fir, and there is no finer evergreen than this, with its dark green mas¬ 
sive foliage, silvery underneath. 
