TREES AND SHRUBS FOR DIFFERENT FLOWERING EFFECTS

Perhaps the most important use of plants is for the effect of theflowers. At least ninety per cent, of those who develop landscapeplantations have foremost in their minds the effect that is to beproduced by the flowers on the trees and shrubs grown in theplantation, whether it be on a large estate or on a small home lot.There are many other valuable characteristics, however, amongwhich are the fruiting and the foliage effects. All of these, however,are entirely secondary to this one consideration concerning theflowers.

The first thought in the use of shrubs for this purpose is to obtainflowers. It is only after some study and some thought on the subjectthat one realizes that shrubs may be used for many different floweringeffects. We may use trees and shrubs to produce flowers at certaindefinite seasons, or we may use trees and shrubs to produce flowers ofdifferent colours at different seasons. The owner of the average homeoccupies his residence throughout the entire year. There is a groupof people, however, owning both large and small homes, who occupytwo or more homes each year, depending upon the season. Theyusually spend the spring and fall months at their residence, and hotsummer months at a country home, either at the seashore or among themountains. The first home owner must be provided with trees andshrubs which will produce as nearly as possible a flowering effectthroughout the growing season, beginning with the shrubs whichproduce flowers before the leaves appear, such as the golden bell andthe flowering plums, and ending with the shrubs such as altheas and thehydrangeas which produce flowers in the summer months. Thefamily that occupies both a permanent residence and a countryhome, however, must have trees and shrubs surrounding the formerwhich produce flowers during the spring and during the late summerand fall months; and at their summer home they must have, so far as