The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-04-01
By F. F, ROCKWELL.
Author of "Around the Year in the Garden" and Making 0 Garden of Small Fruits" etc.

It Is remarkable how many people who plant shrubs are content with @ few flowers in early spring when they could Just as well have them throughout the year. It is simply 9 matter of selecting those things which will give a succession of flowers from early spring until fall. It Is possible to have a new variety coming into bloom almost every week without any very great expense for the plants re- quired.
 The good points which make flow ering shrubs desirable for every home planting are many. Nothing elsA in the plant world quite takes their place. They are attractive in g. diff ferent way from either annuals or perennials. While the latter, of course, have their use, shrubs are needed to complete the picture. Both in size and permanenoy they lend a balance to the planting of the home place, no matter how small 1t may be, which planAs cannot give. Many of the common shrubs last not only for years, but for generations. They fre- quently remain blooming year after year even when the house Itself is gone. Responding generously to good care they acquire less attention than any other Towering plants. A little digging around the roots, fer tilizing and pruning once O year, will keep them in excellent condition. With few exceptions they are almost entirely free from any serious injury from insects.
 Quite aside from the satisfaction and the pleasure they may yield a well-selected planting of shrubs Is # rg% a can be made to increase the value of the place, Like g. coat of paint they add not merely their own value which increases from year to year but dress up" the entire property
 What shrubs should be used?
 That will depend in large part, of course, on the total number which 4r is desired to set out. Over-plant- ing should be avoided just as much as under-planting. but the effect of ovrr-plan ting Is often given with com parat'valy few shrubs, when poorly arranged If set in a "border" around the place, and carefully grouped together, considerable number of shrubs can be used in a very limited area, Shrubs planted in this way should be placed close enough together to make practically 8. continuous mass. Don't make the mistake of setting them out--as many people do-like fruit trees with enough spaoe allowed each specimen to develop fully without touching any others. Shrubs not only natural iy rrow in masses but give a much better effect when they are planted that way. or course the taller ones should be kept in the background Hero and there a single shrub may be separated from the general mass by a small space, or set entirely by itself to heighten the general effect. Among tho shrubs which are mentioned in the following parapraghR which arc best suited for planting in this way are Forsythia, Dogwood, Redbud, Sptrea, Lilac. Hydrangea, Grandlflora, Ff.b4scus and the ornamental or flow aE1ng fruits.
 The score and Q half or so of diff ferent shrubs mentioned In the fol- : low paragraphs will give a success slon of bloom throughout the entire spring, summer and fall. A planting including all of them can be mads for a very reasonable sum. The planter, however, should not make his purchases on the basis of price alone A couple of dozen well-grown shapely plants of good size will give much more satisfaction than twice that number which have been grown in crowded condition and otherwise not given the care and attention which the better grades of plants must always receive. In buying shrubs, as in buying almost every thing else, one gets pretty generally what one pays for; 1t Is question, not of prices, but of value received. Planters who have insisted on buying only low priced stock have naturally som metlmes been disappointed.
 SHRUBS FOR EARLY SPRING PLANTING: There are number of shrubs which are in such hurry to display their new spring gowns that they do not even wait for the leaves to come out, but begin flower Ing almost as soon as the frost is out of the ground and the grass begins to get green. Among these the Col den Bell CF'orsythia suepensa) is per haps the most widely known. This is an old favorite, but nevertheless worthy a place fin any collection If only as a certain advance hatbinger of spring. The Silver Bell (HalesiaS while not so well known. makes a fit ting companion. Where something of small growth Is desired the Flame AzaIeas or Vasey's Azalea may be used. IAke all the Azaleas they are particularly attractive. The Pink ster'' which is among the cousins of the big Azalea family. is especially hardy and satisfactory where only limited care is likely to be given. For back grounds or for planting as indi- vidual specimens, and especially at some distance from the house. the white Eowering dogwood (Cornus flortda) and Rodbud are both very desirable. There is q pink Towering form of the doswood which makes a very attractive contrast when used in connection with the white flower ing form. The several ornamental or Towering piums. and also the Cor reIian Cherry while being small trees rather than Shrubs" are extremely pretty, especially for planting as indi- viduai specimens for the lawn or around the edges of a garden, they may well be included wherever there is room to use them.
 FOR SPRING AND EARLY SUM. ArETe ENGINEERING: In this group Asba shrubs the lilacS