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■'October  23,  1902.—'  JO  URN  A  L  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Ornamental  Plants  and  Shrubs, 
In  the  course  of  the  lecture  which  he  delivered  at  a 
recent  garden  party  at  Messrs.  Pennick’s  nurseries,  near 
Delgany,  in  the  County  Wicklow,  Mr.  A.  D.  Richardson 
dealt  at  considerable  length  with  the  employment  of  shrubs 
of  various  kinds  for  ornamental  planting,  and  specially 
referred  to  the  extent  to  which  these  might  be  availed  of  in 
setting  off  private  grounds  and  homesteads.  In  his  own 
experience  he  had  found,  he  said,  no  group  of  plants  so 
generally  useful  to  the  landscape  gardener  than  hardy 
shrubs,  whether  evergreen  or  deciduous,  and  what  with  dis¬ 
coveries  within  recent  years  of  new  species,  and  the  pro¬ 
duction  of  new  forms  by  the  cultivators  and  hybridisers,  the 
gardener  now  had  no  lack  of  suitable  material  at  his  com¬ 
mand.  Still,  he  thought  that  the  resources  which  planters 
possessed  in  this  way  were  not  utilised  as  fully  as  they 
might  be— generally  speaking.  There  was  a  great  tendency 
to  “  ring  the  changes,”  so  to  speak,  on  a  few  species  and 
varieties,  but  there  were  not  wanting  at  the  same  time 
signs  of  a  good  deal  of  change  of  taste  in  this  respect,  thanks 
to  the  influence  of  the  horticultural  press,  through  whose 
agency  so  many  fine  flowering  shrubs  have  been  brought  to 
the  notice  of  planters. 
In  the  grouping  of  shrubs  for  effect  in  landscape  and 
ornamental  planting  no  hard  and  fast  rule  could  be  laid 
down.  Hitherto  the  great  mistakes  made  in  this  direction 
have  principally  taken  the  form  of  the  employment  of  too 
few  varieties  of  shrubs.  By  this  he  did  not  mean  that  too  few 
kinds  had  been  used  in  each  individual  instance,  but  rather 
that  there  had  been  too  much  repetition  of  the  same  kinds 
in  every  case.  Yews,  Hollies,  and  a  few  others  often  formed 
almost  the  stock-in-trade  of  some  planters,  while  the  fine 
flowering  shrubs  were  conspicuous  by  their  absence.  Now, 
while  no  one  can  object  to  the  judicious  use  of  these  plants, 
when  they  are  employed  too  exclusively  they  produce  a 
feeling  of  monotony  or  sameness  in  the  different  parts  of  a 
place,  or  in  different  places. 
Again,  too  free  use  has  often  been  made  of  the  common 
evergreens.  In  small  places  where  there  is  little  scope  for 
planting  in  large  breadths  evergreens  must  be  largely  em¬ 
ployed,  both  for  shelter  and  to  produce  seclusion  ;  but  in  the 
case  of  large  places  there  is  no  necessity  for  this.  In  smoky 
towns,  too,  some  kinds  of  evergreens  are  too  freely  used. 
The  evergreen  character  of  a  plant  is  due  to  its  power  to 
retain  its  leaves  until  the  next  crop  has  been  produced,  or 
longer.  In  some  cases,  as  for  example  in  the  case  of  the 
common  Ivy,  the  leaves  are  retained  only  until  the  leaves  of 
the  following  year  are  produced,  when  they  drop.  In  other 
cases,  as  in  those  of  the  Yew,  the  leaves  persist  over  a 
number  of  years.  Now,  it  is  quite  evident  that  shnibs  which 
retain  their  leaves  for  a  number  of  years  must,  in  smoky 
towns,  become  very  grimy  and  unhealthy,  and  consequently 
they  look  unsightly.  Deciduous  shrubs,  or  those  which 
retain  their  foliage  only  for  a  year,  have,  on  the  other  hand, 
a  much  more  healthy  and  fresh  appearance. 
In  town  planting,  where  the  air  is  loaded  with  impurities, 
great  care  requires,  therefore,  to  be  exercised  in  the  selec¬ 
tion  of  evergreen  shrubs,  and  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  employ 
Conifers  to  any  extent.  This  is,  of  course,  a  rule  which 
cannot  be  rigidly  applied,  for,  as  we  know,  there  are  shrubs 
and  trees  of  all  kinds  which  won’t  tolerate  a  polluted  town 
atmosphere.  In  the  open  country,  where  the  air  is  pure,  it 
is,  of  course,  quite  different,  and  there  evergreens  may  be 
used  as  circumstances  demand  with  the  certainty  that  they 
will  always  be  fresh  looking,  provided,  of  course,  that  the 
conditions  as  to  soil,  exposure  and  so  forth,  are  suitable. 
A  great  deal  more  might  yet  be  done  in  the  planting  of 
fine  flowering  shrubs,  both  evergreen  and  deciduous.  Of 
these  we  have  now  a  great  wealth,  and  a  great  proportion  of 
them  are  sufficiently  hardy  for  planting  almost  anywhere  in 
the  British  Isles.  But  to  show  off  fine  flowering  shrubs,  at 
any  rate  of  the  larger  kinds,  to  advantage,  there  is  no  better 
way  than  by  planting  either  singly  as  specimen  plants,  or  in 
groups  of  one  kind.  In  such  positions  they  develop  in  a 
perfectly  natural  manner,  and  they  never  require  to  be  cut 
or  pruned  into  shape  ;  in  fact,  such  a  thing  means  mutilation 
when  it  is  carried  out  systematically  and  vigorously. 
Fine  flowering  shrubs  grown  in  this  way,  and  sim^lv  left 
alone,  are  far  prettier  and  far  more  effective  in  ornamental 
grounds  than  when  grown  in  any  other  way.  But  take,  for 
example,  the  Rocky  Mountain  Bramble  (Rubus  deliciosus), 
a  plant  which  does  not  seem  to  be  very  plentiful,  but  one 
which  has  a  great  deal  to  commend  it  to  lovers  of  flowering 
shrubs.  What  could  possibly  be  finer  than  this  plant  grown 
in  this  way  when  covered  with  its  large  white  Rose-like 
flowers  ?  Or,  again,  take  Spiraea  discolor  (better  known, 
perhaps,  as  S.  Arisefolia).  Grown  in  this  way,  few  shrubs 
are  more  graceful  or  more  effective.  A  large  number  of  fine 
flowering  shrubs,  both  deciduous  and  evergreens,  lend  them¬ 
selves  to  this  kind  of  treatment.  Among  them  the  following 
may  be  mentioned  as  worthy  of  attention  : — 
Berberis  Darwini. 
Genista  setnensis. 
Cytisus  albus. 
scoparius  Andreanus. 
Caragana  melanocalyx. 
Prunus  triloba. 
Spiraea  bella. 
discolor. 
Lindleyana. 
Van  Houttei. 
Roses— Lord  Penzance's  Briers, 
rugosa. 
pimpinellaefolia  altaica 
and  others. 
Pyrus  floribunda. 
japonica. 
Amelanchier  canadensis. 
Deutzia  crenata  fl.-pl. 
Philadelphus  grandifloius  and  varieties. 
Hamamelis  arborea. 
Viburnum  Opulus  sterile. 
Ribes  aureum. 
sanguineum  vars. 
Gordonianum. 
speciosum. 
Diervilla  florida  and  varieties. 
Olearia  Haasti. 
Forsythia  suspensa. 
Andromeda  (Pieris)  floribunda. 
Kyringa  ehinensis. 
Ligustrum  ibota. 
Buddleia  globosa. 
Rhododendron  cinnabarinum. 
Thomsoni. 
Catawbiense. 
Nobleanum. 
White  Nobleanum. 
and  of  hybrids. 
Jackson  i. 
Cynthia. 
Empress  Eugenie. 
The  Queen,  &c. 
These  are  a  few  of  the  larger  kinds,  but  they  by  no  means 
exhaust  the  list.  Of  the  smaller  kinds  many  may  be  used  for 
massing  in  certain  sites,  and  there  are  also  many  genera  to 
select  from,  such  as  Cytisus,  Cistus,  Genista,  Hypericum, 
Jamesia,  Philadelphus  (Lemoine’s  hybrids  and  microphylla), 
Skimmia,  Spiraea,  Tamarix,  Andromeda,  Calluna,  Erica, 
Bryanthus,  Ledum,  Leucothoe,  Rhododendron,  and 
Veronica.  This  is  not,  of  course,  the  only  way  in  which 
these  plants  should  be  grown.  Thev  may  be  used  in  a  great 
variety  of  ways,  but  when  isolated  they  show  to  much 
greater  advantage  than  when  in  mixture  with  other  kinds 
where,  as  in  a  plantation  of  forest  trees,  the  struggle  for 
existence  setting  in  sooner  or  later,  and  the  suppression  of 
the  weaker  brought  about. 
There  is  another  kind  of  shrub  which  is  of  great  utility 
in  ornamental  planting,  viz.,  the  “rambling”  or  climbing 
shrub.  It  often  happens  that  unsightlv  objects  which  can¬ 
not  be  cleared  away  have  to  be  covered  up  by  some  means, 
and  in  such  cases  shrubs  of  this  kind  are  invaluable.  Some 
of  them  are  very  showy  flowered,  others  have  fine  foliage. 
Among  the  ramblers  may  be  placed  first  Rosa  multiflora,  and 
its  form  Crimson  Rambler,  perhaps  the  finest  rambling  Rose 
which  has  ever  been  produced.  Then  there  are  the  double 
flowered  brambles,  Vitis  Coignetise,  a  magnificent  Japanese 
Vine  which  produces  very  large  foliage,  which  takes  on  a 
beautiful  purphsh  red  tint  in  autumn  ;  Clematis  montana,  a 
beautiful  early  flowering  sp.  ;  the  Honeysuckles,  yellow 
Jasmine,  Vinc.s,  and  so  forth.  Then  of  those  which  attach 
themselves  by  root-like  supports  we  have,  of  course,  the 
Ivies,  Ampelopsis,  and,  pex-haps,  the  most  tenacious  of  all, 
Hydrangea  petiolaris.  The  following  can  be  recommended 
as  suitable  for  the  various  positions  specified : — 
PLANTS  SUITABLE  FOR  ROCKWORK. 
Heaths  and  Ericas. 
Bryanthus,  erectus  and  empetriformis. 
Dwarf  Rhododendrons  and 
Azalea  amcena. 
Andromedas. 
Thuja  aurea  and  elegantissima. 
Bamboos  (dwarf). 
Cotoneaster  horizontalis 
thymifolia. 
Daphne  blagnayanmn. 
Gaultheria  procumbent. 
Dwarf  Genistas. 
Dwarf  Junipers. 
Lithospermum  fruticosum. 
Pentstemon  Menziesi. 
Polygala  Chanwebuxus. 
Spirmas  (dwarf). 
Veronicas  (shrubby.  New  Zealand). 
AUTUMN,  WINTER  AND  SPRING  FLOWERING  SHRUBS. 
Hydrangea. 
Hypericums. 
Rhus. 
Jasminum. 
Daphne. 
Forsythia. 
Nuttallia. 
Calythanthus. 
Erica  carnea. 
Magnolia  conspicua  and  other  i. 
Hamamelis. 
Cytisus  praecox  and  albus. 
Pyrus  Cydonia. 
Prunus  triloba. 
Ribes  sanguineum. 
Gordianum. 
aureum. 
Ledum  palustre. 
Rhododendron  pra’cox. 
ciliatum. 
dauricum. 
Nobleanum. 
Thomsoni. 
Cuuningliami. 
Campanulatum. 
Caucasicum. 
Jacksoni. 
Rhodora. 
Chrysanthemums  in  London. 
Two  Chrysanthemum  shows  under  the  .control  of  the  London 
County  Council  opened  on  the  loth  at  Battersea  and  Finsbury 
Parks,  and  will  remain  open  to  the  public  for  some  weeks. 
