HARDY ORNAMENTAL
FLOWERING TREES AND SHRUBS.
By
A.D. WEBSTER,
"Hardy Coniferous Trees," "British Orchids," &c.,&c.
SECOND AND CHEAP EDITION.
"GARDENING WORLD" OFFICE,
1, Clement's Inn, Strand, W.C.
4, Dorset Buildings, Salisbury Square, London, E.C.
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION, 1893.
This book has been written and is published withthe distinct object in view of bringing home to the minds ofplanters of Hardy Trees and Shrubs, the fact that the monotonousrepetition, in at least nine-tenths of our Parks and Gardens, ofsuch Trees as the Elm, the Lime, and the Oak, and such Shrubs asthe Cherry Laurel and the Privet, is neither necessary nordesirable. There is quite a host of choice and beautiful floweringspecies, which, though at present not generally known are yetperfectly hardy, of the simplest culture, and equally well adaptedfor the ornamentation of our Public and Private Parks andGardens.
Of late years, with the marked decline in thecultivation of Coniferous Trees, many of which are ill adapted forthe climate of this country, the interest in our lovely floweringTrees and Shrubs has been greatly revived. This fact has been wellexemplified in the numerous enquiries after these subjects, and thespace devoted to their description and modes of cultivation in theHorticultural Press.
In the hope, too, of helping to establish amuch-desired standard of nomenclature, I have followed the genericnames adopted by the authors of The Genera Plantarum, andthe specific names and orthography, as far as I have been able, ofthe Index Kewensis; and where possible I have given thesynonyms, the date of introduction, and the native country. Thealphabetical arrangement that has been adopted, both with regard tothe genera and species, it is hoped, will greatly facilitate thework of reference to its pages. The descriptive notes and hints oncultivation, the selected lists of Trees and Shrubs for variousspecial purposes, and the calendarial list which indicates theflowering season of the different species, may be considered allthe more valuable for being concisely written, and made readilyaccessible by means of the Index.
No work written on a similar plan and treatingsolely of Hardy Ornamental Flowering Trees and Shrubs has hithertobeen published; and it is not supposed for a moment that thepresent one will entirely supply the deficiency; but should it meetwith any measure of public approval, it may be the means of pavingthe way towards the publication of a more elaborate work—andone altogether more worthy of the interesting and beautifulFlowering Trees and Shrubs that have been found suitable forplanting in the climate of the British Isles.
Of the fully thirteen hundred species andvarieties of Trees and Shrubs enumerated, all may be depended uponas being hardy in some part of the country. Several of them, andparticularly those introduced from China and Japan, have not beforebeen included in a book of this ch