Forsythia.—Golden Bell. Dwarf growing subjects, of exceedingly graceful habit. F. suspensa is the best known, and the long trailing branches, covered with golden blossoms, look especially well hanging over a bank or low wall. F. viridissima is more compact than the foregoing, and likes a position fully exposed to the sun.
Deutzia.—The hardy outdoor kinds are crenata and flore-pleno, both with white flowers, those of the latter being faintly tinged with pink. The slender stems and clustering racemes of flowers render this a delightful shrub.
Kalmia.—Mountain Laurel. Charming evergreen shrubs from North America. The waxy flowers are produced in clusters, the colour being a delicate rose. K. latifolia is the best, and will thrive in garden soil in which there is a slight admixture of peat. On limestone soils they are seldom a success.
Berberis.—Barberry. The best of the group is B. Darwinii, an evergreen variety with showy orange flowers. B. vulgaris, the Common Barberry, is more beautiful in fruit than in flower, a charming companion being B. Thunbergii, with bright scarlet berries, and foliage turning to a rich tint in autumn. The Mahonias are also included under this head, of which the common variety, M. aquifolium, should be in every collection. Its copper-coloured leaves, bright yellow flowers and purple berries, afford a good contrast to other plants in the shrubbery.
Weigela.—Bush Honeysuckle. Charming groups of these shrubs may be formed on the edges of lawns and other suitable places. There are many varieties, nearly all beautiful, their autumn foliage being particularly well coloured. W. rosea is the form generally met with, but it is hardly so deserving as W. grandiflora, or anabilis, as it is often known. There is a fine golden-leaved kind, W. Looymansi aurea, which may be grown if space can be found.
Rhus.—Sumach. More quaint, perhaps, than beautiful, but worth planting, if only for their truly gorgeous foliage during the fall of the leaf. The Venetian Sumach (R. cotinus) is one of the best.
Tamarix.—Tamarisk. Excellent shrubs for seaside gardens. The flowers of T. gallica are white, tinged with pink, and the small spikes look exceedingly well among the feathery leaves.
Spiræa.—Shrubby Meadow Sweet. A large family numbering many delightful varieties. It is useless crowding these Spiræas among a tangle of rampant evergreens, as their graceful beauty is lost and they are soon destroyed. Well-defined clumps on lawn margins show them at their best. S. ariæfolia, the Spray Bush, is very lovely with its panicles of white flowers. S. japonica, with clusters of pink flowers borne on slender stems, is another good kind; and the improved variety, Anthony Waterer, with blossoms of a rich crimson hue, is most striking. The Plume Meadow Sweet (S. Lindleyana) is a large and handsome kind, which requires a fairly warm position, when its beautiful foliage is particularly attractive.
Hydrangea Paniculata Grandiflora.—Plumed Hydrangea. During the autumn this is one of the handsomest plants in the shrubbery. Under good culture it produces enormous clusters of white flowers, the whole bush being often covered with a profusion of bloom.
Kerria Japonica.—There are few cottage gardens without a bush of old-fashioned Jew’s Mallow. The long shoots are wreathed with small golden blossoms. There is a variegated form of the single variety, which is dwarfer than the commonly grown flore-plena.