SPI 
SPI 
dwarf-spreading bush. In shrubberies 
or ornamental plantations this broom is 
very effective; the number and bright 
colour of its flowers render it very con¬ 
spicuous in the blooming season, and at 
other times the contrast it offers to other 
shrubs is equally striking. A light sandy 
soil suits it best, though it does not re¬ 
fuse to grow even in strong loam. It is 
readily increased by seeds, which should 
be sown in beds of light earth in March, 
barely covering the seeds; or cuttings 
taken in autumn may be struck under a 
hand-glass. 
SPIREA (Linn.) Nat. Ord. Rosacea. 
The shrubby portion of this genus con¬ 
tains a considerable number of really 
handsome objects, well suited for orna¬ 
menting the fronts of shrubbery borders; 
or, taken collectively, a highly interest¬ 
ing group may be formed, which would 
continue in beauty for three or four con¬ 
secutive months. We now and then 
meet with a family of plants so strongly 
marked with certain peculiarities, that 
their association with other forms is 
rendered often difficult, and sometimes 
impossible, without sacrificing that unity 
of expression which should always pre¬ 
vail ; their form, general appearance, or, 
possibly, some cultural reason reduces 
them to an exclusiveness not easily broken 
through, and we have then to determine 
between their entire banishment or their 
adoption as a distinct group. Some 
such character attaches to the suffruti- 
cose portion of the present genus, 
though the effect of associating them 
with other shrubs is not so palpably 
wrong as in other instances; they may 
be mingled with low and spare-growing 
forms, but in the company of dense ever¬ 
greens are completely overpowered and 
lost, nor is a correct estimate of their 
beauty ever formed till they are seen in 
a detached position; collected together 
in a separate bed, or at a projection of 
a continuous line of shrubs, their peculiar 
light and pleasing growth, together with 
the copiously-produced elegant flowers, 
is most effective. In the majority of 
gardens, this mode of planting in groups 
is overlooked, though calculated to im¬ 
part a greatly-increased interest, and we 
have, therefore, thought it advisable to 
notice the method in connexion with the 
present subject; the several beauties of 
the various classes to which the rule is 
applicable are thus brought more promi¬ 
nently out, a bold and varied character 
is given to the locality, while cultural 
operations are rendered less troublesome, 
and may be carried on in their respective 
seasons without interference among other 
classes then in a quiescent state. 
The mention of such things as azaleas, 
berberis, rhododendrons, roses, spireas, 
&c., will bring to the mind of the intel¬ 
ligent observer, their meagre effect when 
scattered through a miscellaneous col¬ 
lection of shrubs, and the decided supe¬ 
riority of their appearance in groups. It 
must, however, be borne in mind, that 
deciduous plants like the present genus 
require to be backed with more perma¬ 
nent objects, or a displeasing vacuity will 
exist in winter; stationed in front of 
evergreens, however, the proximity of 
deeper tints serves to heighten the tender 
green of their foliage in summer, and in 
winter the void created by the fall of the 
leaf, and the necessary pruning of the 
branches, is rendered less observable. 
All the spireas delight in rich friable 
loam, and require an open situation; the 
shrubby kinds vary in height from two 
to five feet; they mostly form radical 
shoots, which are the entire height of the 
plant in the first season, and blossom in 
the next, after which they may be cut 
down; their leaves are generally lanceo¬ 
late, varying in width from linear to 
broadly ovate; a few have them pinnated, 
and all are more or less serrated on their 
margins. The prevailing colour of their 
flowers is white; pink and red are also 
found amongst them. They are produced 
in racemes, panicles, and all the forms 
of a corymb; the projecting anthers of 
most species give a light and pretty ap¬ 
pearance to the heads, and the deep 
purple of the anthers imparts a lilac tinge 
to many of the white flowering kinds. 
The following enumeration of some of 
the most striking species may be useful 
to those desirous of forming a collec¬ 
tion : 
Alpina. Attains about three feet in 
8 
