Hardy Ornamental Flowering Trees and Shrubs Part 16

P. VILMORINIANA (_syns P. laurifolia_ and _P. decora_).--Asia Minor, 1885, This is a grand addition to these valuable shrubs, of which it is decidedly the best from an ornamental point of view. It is of compact growth, with large, Laurel-like leaves, which are of a pleasing shade of green, and fully 4 inches long. They are of stout, leathery texture, and plentifully produced. That this shrub is perfectly hardy is now a well-established fact.

The Phillyreas succeed well in light, warm, but not too dry soil, and they do all the better if a warm and sheltered position is a.s.signed to them. Being unusually bright of foliage, they are of great service in planting for shrubbery embellishment, and which they light up in a very conspicuous manner during the dull winter months. They get shabby and meagre foliaged if exposed to cold winds.

PHLOMIS.

PHLOMIS FRUTICOSA.--Jerusalem Sage. Mediterranean region, 1596. This is a neat-growing shrubby plant, with ovate acute leaves, that are covered with a yellowish down. From the axils of the upper leaves the whorls of yellow flowers are freely produced during the summer months. It is valued for its neat growth, and as growing on dry soils where few other plants could eke out an existence.

PHOTINIA.

PHOTINIA j.a.pONICA (_syn Eriobotrya j.a.ponica_).--Loquat, j.a.pan Medlar, or j.a.pan Quince. j.a.pan, 1787. This is chiefly remarkable for its handsome foliage, the leaves being oblong of shape and downy on the under sides.

The white flowers are of no great beauty, but being produced at the beginning of winter, and when flowers are scarce, are all the more welcome. It requires protection in all but the warmer parts of these islands.

P. ARBUTIFOLIA (_syns Crataegus arbutifolia_ and _Mespilus arbutifolia_).--Arbutus-leaved Photinia, or Californian May-bush.

California, 1796. This is a very distinct shrub, with leaves resembling those of the Strawberry Tree (Arbutus), the flowers in an elongated panicle, and bright red bark on the young wood.

P. BENTHAMIANA is only worthy of culture for its neat habit and freedom of growth when suitably placed.

P. SERRULATA (_syn Crataegus glabra_).--Chinese Hawthorn. j.a.pan and China, 1804. This has Laurel-like leaves, 4 inches or 5 inches long, and, especially when young, of a beautiful rosy-chocolate colour, and cl.u.s.tered at the branch-tips. Flowers small, white, and produced in flat corymbs. An invaluable seaside shrub.

They all grow well either in light, rich loam, or in sandy, peaty earth, and are usually propagated by grafting.

PHYLODOCE.

PHYLODOCE TAXIFOLIA (_syns P. caerulea_ and _Menziesia caerulea_).--An almost extinct native species, having crowded linear leaves, and lilac-blue flowers. It is only of value for rock gardening.

PIERIS.

PIERIS FLORIBUNDA (_syns Andromeda floribunda_ and _Leucothoe floribunda_).--United States, 1812. Few perfectly hardy shrubs are more beautiful than this, with its pure white Lily-of-the-Valley like flowers, borne in dense racemes and small, neat, dark green leaves. To cultivate this handsome shrub in a satisfactory way, fairly rich loam or peat, and a situation sheltered from cold and cutting winds, are necessities.

P. j.a.pONICA (_syn Andromeda j.a.ponica_).--j.a.pan, 1882. A hardy, well-known shrub, that was first brought specially under notice in "The Garden," and of which a coloured plate and description were given. It is thickly furnished with neat and small deep-green, leathery leaves, and pretty, waxy white flowers, pendulous at the branch tips. Planted in free, sandy peat, it thrives vigorously, and soon forms a neat specimen of nearly a yard in height. It is a very desirable hardy species, and one that can be confidently recommended for ornamental planting. There is a variegated variety, P. j.a.ponica elegantissima, with leaves clearly edged with creamy-white, and flushed with pink. Amongst variegated, small-growing shrubs it is a gem.

P. MARIANA (_syn Andromeda Mariana ovalis_).--North America, 1736. A neat shrub of about 3 feet in height, with oval leaves, and pretty white flowers in pendent cl.u.s.ters.

P. OVALIFOLIA (_syn Andromeda ovalifolia_).--Nepaul, 1825. A fine, tall-growing species, with oval-pointed, leathery leaves placed on long footstalks. Flowers in lengthened, drooping, one-sided racemes, and white or pale flesh-coloured. Being perfectly hardy, and attaining to as much as 20 feet in height, it is a desirable species for the lawn or shrubbery.

PIPTANTHUS.

PIPTANTHUS NEPALENSIS (_syn Baptisia nepalensis_).--Evergreen Laburnum.

Temperate Himalaya, 1821. A handsome, half-hardy shrub, of often fully 10 feet high, with trifoliolate, evergreen leaves, and terminal racemes of large yellow flowers. In the south and west of England and Ireland it does well, and only receives injury during very severe winters. Planted either as a single specimen, or in clumps of three or five, the evergreen Laburnum has a pleasing effect, whether with its bright, glossy-green leaves, or abundance of showy flowers. It is of somewhat erect growth, with stout branches and plenty of shoots. Propagated from seed, which it ripens abundantly in this country.

PITTOSPORUM.

PITTOSPORUM TOBIRA.--j.a.pan, 1804. This forms a neat, evergreen shrub, with deep green, leathery leaves, and cl.u.s.ters of white, fragrant flowers, each about an inch in diameter. It is hardy in the more favoured parts of the south and west of England, where it makes a reliable seaside shrub.

P. UNDULATUM, from Australia (1789), is also hardy against a wall, but cannot be depended upon generally. It is a neat shrub, with wavy leaves, that are rendered conspicuous by the dark midribs. They grow well in any good garden soil.

PLAGIANTHUS.

PLAGIANTHUS LYALLI, a native of New Zealand (1871), and a member of the Mallow family, is a free-flowering and beautiful shrub, but one that cannot be recommended for general planting in this country. At Kew it does well and flowers freely on an east wall. The flowers are snow-white, with golden-yellow anthers, and produced on the ends of the last season's branchlets during June and July. The flower-stalks, being fully 2 inches long, give to the flowers a very graceful appearance. In this country the leaves are frequently retained till spring.

P. LAMPENI.--Van Dieman's Land, 1833. This is about equally hardy with the former, and produces a great abundance of sweetly-scented flowers.

P. PULCh.e.l.lUS (_syn Sida pulch.e.l.la_).--Australia and Tasmania. Another half-hardy species, which bears, even in a young state, an abundance of rather small, whitish flowers.

POLYGALA.

POLYGALA CHAMAEBUXUS.--b.a.s.t.a.r.d Box. A neat little shrubby plant, with small ovate, coriaceous leaves, and fragrant yellow and cream flowers.

P. chamaebuxus purpureus differs in bearing rich reddish-purple flowers, and is one of the most showy and beautiful of rock plants. They are natives of Europe (1658), and grow best in vegetable mould.

POTENTILLA.

POTENTILLA FRUTICOSA.--Northern Hemisphere (Britain). An indigenous shrub that grows about a yard high, with pinnate leaves and golden flowers. It is a most persistent blooming plant, as often for four months, beginning in June, the flowers are produced freely in succession. It delights to grow in a strong soil, and, being of low, st.u.r.dy growth, does well for the outer line of the shrubbery.

PRUNUS.

PRUNUS AMYGDALUS (_syn Amygdalus communis_).--Common Almond. Barbary, 1548. Whether by a suburban roadside, or even in the heart of the crowded city, the Almond seems quite at home, and is at once one of the loveliest and most welcome of early spring-flowering trees. The flowers are rather small for the family, pale pink, and produced in great quant.i.ty before the leaves. There are several distinct forms of the Almond, differing mainly in the colour of the flowers, one being pink, another red, while a third has double flowers. P. Amygdalus macrocarpa (Large-fruited Almond) is by far the handsomest variety in cultivation, the flowers being large, often 3 inches in diameter, and white tinged with pink, particularly at the base of the petals. The flowers, too, are produced earlier than those of any other Almond, while the tree is of stout growth and readily suited with both soil and site.

P. AMYGDALUS DULCIS (_syn A. dulcis_), Sweet Almond, of which there are three distinct varieties, P.A. dulcis purpurea, P.A. dulcis macrocarpa, and P.A. dulcis pendula, should be included in every collection of these handsome flowering plants.

P. AVIUM JULIANA (_syn Cerasus Juliana_).--St. Julian's Cherry. South Europe. This bears large flowers of a most beautiful and delicate blush tint. P. Avium multiplex is a double form of the Wild Cherry, or Gean, with smaller leaves than the type.

P. BOISSIERII (_syn Amygdalus Boissierii_).--Asia Minor, 1879. This is a bushy shrub, with almost erect, long, and slender branches, and furnished with leaves an inch long, elliptic, and thick of texture.

Flowers pale flesh-coloured, and produced abundantly. It is a very ornamental and distinct plant, and is sure, when better known, to attract a considerable amount of attention.

P. CERASIFERA (_syn P. Myrobalana_).--Cherry, or Myrobalan Plum. Native Country unknown. A medium-sized tree, with an abundance of small white flowers, which are particularly attractive if they escape the early spring frosts. It is of stout, branching habit, with a well-rounded head, and has of late years attracted a good deal of notice as a hedge plant. P. cerasifera p.i.s.sardii, the purple-leaved Cherry plum, is a remarkable and handsome variety, in which the leaves are deep purple, thus rendering the plant one of the most distinct and ornamental-foliaged of the family. It produces its white, blush-tinted flowers in May. It was received by M.A. Chatenay, of Sceau, from M. p.i.s.sard, director of the garden of His Majesty the Shah of Persia. When it flowered it was figured in the _Revue Horticole_, 1881, p. 190.

P. CERASUS (_syn Cerasus vulgaris_).--Common Cherry. A favourite medium-sized tree, and one that lends itself readily to cultivation. As an ornamental park tree this Cherry, though common, must not be despised, for during summer, when laden with its pure white flowers, or again in autumn when myriads of the black, shining fruits hang in cl.u.s.ters from its branches, it will be readily admitted that few trees have a more beautiful or conspicuous appearance, P. Cerasus flore-pleno (double-flowered Cherry) is a distinct and desirable variety. P. Cerasus multiplex is a very showy double form, more ornamental than P. Avium muliplex, and also known under the names of _Cerasus ranunculiflora_ and _C. Cap.r.o.niana multiplex_. P. Cerasus semperflorens (_syn Cerasus semperflorens_), the All Saints, Ever Flowering, or Weeping, Cherry, is another valuable variety, of low growth, and with gracefully drooping branches, particularly when the tree is old. It is a very desirable lawn tree, and flowers at intervals during the summer.

P. CHAMAECERASUS (_syn Cerasus Chamaecerasus_).--Ground Cherry. Europe, 1597. This is a dwarf, slender-branched, and gracefully pendent shrub, of free growth, undoubted hardihood, and well worthy of extended cultivation. The variety C. Chamaecerasus variegata has the leaves suffused with greenish lemon. There is also a creeping form named P.

Chamaecerasus pendula.

P. DAVIDIANA.--Abbe David's Almond. China. This is the tree to which, under the name of Amygdalus Davidiana alba, a First-cla.s.s Certificate was awarded in 1892 by the Royal Horticultural Society. The typical species is a native of China, from whence it was introduced several years ago, but it is still far from common. It is the earliest of the Almonds to unfold its white flowers, for in mild winters some of them expand before the end of January; but March, about the first week, it is at its best. It is of more slender growth than the common Almond, and the flowers, which are individually smaller, are borne in great profusion along the shoots of the preceding year, so that a specimen, when in full flower, is quite one ma.s.s of bloom. There is a rosy-tinted form known as Amygdalus Davidiana rubra.

P. DIVARICATA, from the Caucasus (1822), is useful on account of the pure white flowers being produced early in the year, and before the leaves. It has a graceful, easy habit of growth, and inclined to spread, and makes a neat lawn or park specimen.

P. DOMESTICA, Common Garden Plum, and P. domestica insit.i.tia, Bullace Plum, are both very ornamental-flowering species, and some of the varieties are even more desirable than the parent plants.

P. ILLICIFOLIA (_syn Cerasus ilicifolius_).--Holly-leaved Cherry.