The common “summer bulbs” are:—

Gladiolus
Tuberose
Dahlia
Canna
Arum
Calla
Calochortus
Alstremeria
Amaryllis
Colocasia

5. THE SHRUBBERY

(Exclusive of coniferous evergreens and climbing plants.)

The common hardy shrubs or bushes may be planted in fall or spring. In the northernmost parts of the country and in Canada spring planting is usually safer, although on well-drained ground and when thoroughly mulched the plants may even there do well if planted as soon as the leaves drop in fall. If the shrubs are purchased in spring, they are likely to have come from “cellared stock”; that is, the nurserymen dig much of their stock in fall and store it in cellars built for the purpose. While stock that is properly cellared is perfectly reliable, that which has been allowed to get too dry or which has been otherwise improperly handled comes on very slowly in the spring, makes a poor growth the first year, and much of it may die.

In the planting of any kind of trees or shrubs, it is well to remember that nursery-grown specimens generally transplant more readily and thrive better than trees taken from the wild; and this is particularly true if the stock was transplanted in the nursery. Trees that transplant with difficulty, as the papaw or asimina, and some nut trees, may be prepared for removal by cutting some of their roots—and especially the tap-root, if they have such—a year or two in advance.

XIII. The pageant of summer. Gardens of C. W. Dowdeswell, England, from a painting by Miss Parsons. For permission to reproduce the above picture we are indebted to the kindness of Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Seed Merchants, Reading, England, the owners of the copyright, who published it in their Amateur’s Guide in Horticulture for 1909.

It is ordinarily best to plow or spade the entire area in which the shrubs are to be set. For a year or two the ground should be tilled between the shrubs, either by horse tools or by hoes and rakes. If the place looks bare, seeds of quick-growing flowers may be scattered about the edges of the mass, or herbaceous perennials may be used.