CHAPTER  XVIII
 

           Variegated  and  Coloured  Trees and  Shrubs.



Perhaps more rubbish is foisted on purchasers  of trees  and shrubs in the

shape of variegated sorts than of anything else.  A variegated plant should

have its leaf-colouring bright, well-defined, and abundant to be of value.

Yet  by  some dealers every spotty or muddy  coloured form is thought

worthy of a name and a  flattering description.   There can be no question

but  that  purple or  variegated plants have  a  disturbing effect  on the

general landscape.   Their place is in  the  garden  proper, where the eye

is  accustomed to, and seeks  for,  unusual  effects;  but even  there  they

should never  be sprinkled about  indiscriminately.   Coloured shrubs are

best in  groups  or masses, composed  either  of one sort  or of two  or

more that  enhance each other's beauty.  Trees like the purple  beech or

variegated  English  elm  are  very  effective as  solitary specimens on  a

lawn; so is a group  of Spath's cornel, perhaps  the best deciduous varie¬

gated shrub in  cultivation.   The value of such plants  is most apparent

after -midsummer, when  the great flowering  season  of trees and shrubs

is over.   They then  furnish bright patches of colour which would other¬

wise be  lacking.  In  large gardens, I  favour the  plan  of associating in

a few broad masses collections of good variegated shrubs and small trees,

and if such masses can be placed in somewhat secluded spots, or at any

rate in places where  they are not  for ever obtruding themselves  on the

vision, their charm and effectiveness are, I think, enhanced.

   Variegated evergreens have an  especial value in giving colour and

warmth to a  garden during  the  dullest  months  of the year.   In the

following select  list of variegated  trees and shrubs they are marked with

an asterisk (*):—

             Acanthopanax spinosum variegatum, white.

             Acer campestre postelense, all yellow.

               ,,     ,,    Schwerinii, purple.

               „  cratasgifolium Veitchi, rose-coloured and white.

               „ japonicum aureum, all yellow.

              ,, Negundo aureo-variegatum, yellow.

              ,,     ,,   aureum, all yellow.

              ,,     „   variegatum, white.

        74