62 
House & Garden 
nmm 
M'cFarlanu 
FIFTY GOOD FLOWERING 
SHRUBS FOR THE GARDEN 
RICHARD H. PRATT 
With a horn-beam hedge for a background, with banks of bridal- 
wreath and bush honeysuckle on either side, and deutzia gracilis 
in the borders, this garden shows the importance of shrubs in 
the planting scheme. Clarence Fowler landscape architect 
The pink blossoms of bush arbu¬ 
tus, abelia grandiflora, appear in 
late summer and last until fall 
S HRUBS seem to contain in a nice 
degree the qualities both of trees 
and flowers. They have body as 
well as bloom. It is possible to make a gar¬ 
den altogether of flowering shrubs, and it is 
likewise possible to create with them effec¬ 
tive shade and shelter. In fact, no other 
type of plant is quite as versatile. 
Among their endless varieties there are 
kinds for almost every purpose in the 
planting of the grounds and garden. They 
may be used in masses to soften the 
angles between the house and its 
site, to fill in the harsh corners of 
the lawn, to bank against the 
curves of walks and drives, to cover 
slopes and to form enclosures. Used 
individually they are every bit as 
valuable, whether they serve as 
spots of brilliant color or as accents 
at important points. 
The shrub family is so extensive 
and various that the compilation of 
a representative list of 50, together 
with the classifying of the purposes 
to which this 50 might be put, could 
not possibly be accomplished in a 
short article. Therefore, the broad- 
evergreen branch of the family, with its 
rhododendrons, laurel, azaleas, fetterbush, 
and Japanese hollies, will be eliminated. 
The shrubby roses will be ignored. Small 
trees that are loosely called shrubs will be 
admitted only in a few pressing cases. 
What remains is still, of course, a stupen¬ 
dous group. 
Fifty typical varieties will be described 
and, in order to make the list more valua¬ 
ble and useful, the shrubs will be grouped 
into five different classes: those which are 
most suitable for heavy masses, such as the 
McFarland 
While the branches are still 
bare the yellow flowers of for- 
sythia viridissima line the stems 
outside frame of the garden; those which 
are especially fitted for covering slopes; 
those which, because of their somewhat her¬ 
baceous appearance, may be used in the 
borders among the perennials and annuals, 
and finally those which, because of their 
beauty of form and color, can be placed as 
accents in the garden. 
SHRUBS FOR MASSING 
/ 
Service-berry, amelanchier cana¬ 
densis, known more generally as 
shadbush, is a splendid shrub to use 
outside a garden that is set in a 
woodsy situation, for it attains even¬ 
tually a considerable height (some¬ 
times as much as 30') and its loose 
habit of growth gives it the proper 
character for surroundings of that 
sort. In the Spring it is covered with 
a mass of white flowers in short 
racemes, and in the late Summer or 
early Fall its branches are hung 
One of the most attractive of 
the smaller shrubs is deutzia 
gracilis with its pink, some¬ 
times white, flowers 
