In this extensive genus, popularly called Whortleberries, we have a great number of species well adapted for cultivation in this country, most of them sufficiently interesting and distinct in their habits and general appearance to justify their being recommended as desirable hardy Shrubs; and while we venture to name a few of those we consider most useful for a select collection, there are many others ornamental enough for admission to any American garden in which space can be afforded for their reception.

All the sorts produce more or less abundantly wholesome and palatable berries, which are largely used in a variety of ways in their native localities, and in some cases form important articles of commerce. The season of flowering is May and June, the fruit being ripe in October. To grow these plants well, a rich peaty soil and a damp situation are indispensable, and though with these conditions they are found to thrive in the ordinary open borders, they prefer an eastern aspect, or one partially shaded from the rays of the mid-day sun. Several of the dwarf evergreen species make pretty edging or carpet plants in damp shady woods or shrubberies; their close habit of growth, shining green foliage, and elegant flowers, rendering them attractive at all seasons.

Select Species And Varieties

Arctostaphylos

From mountain woods on the coast of the Black Sea, is a handsome deciduous species growing from 6 to 8 feet in height, with leaves of an elliptic acute shape minutely serrated, hairy beneath, and from 2 to 2 ½ inches long. The flowers are white, slightly tinged with purple, and produced in racemes from the wood of the preceding year; the berries are of a fine purple colour.

Frondosum

From woods in New Jersey and Carolina; forms a neat shrub of about 3 feet high, and with deciduous leaves of an obovate oblong shape about 2½ inches long, glaucous beneath, and sprinkled with minute resinous dots. The flowers are white, produced in racemes from the wood of the preceding year; the berries are bright blue.

Macrocarpus

Found wild over the greater portion of Canada and the United States in almost every situation which supplies peat and moisture; is the well-known American Cranberry, a pretty prostrate evergreen shrub, with sweet pink flowers, small heath-like foliage, and large red berries, which, though ripe in October, hang on the plant during the greater part of the winter.

Ovatum

From the banks of the Columbia river, and abundant on the north-west coast of America; is a beautiful evergreen about 2½ feet high, with a dense habit of growth, smooth shining ovate leaves, and pretty black berries, which remain long on the plants.

Stamineum

An interesting and distinct deciduous species from the swamps of New England, growing about 2 feet high, with fine glaucous foliage nearly 2 inches long, the flowers pure white, and the berries very light green, almost white.

Vitis Idoea

Found wild over a large area in North America, the northern countries of continental Europe, and abundant in the mountain Heaths of Britain; is one of the most beautiful of dwarf evergreen shrubs, growing from 6 to 12 inches high, and densely clothed with glossy-green boxlike foliage, bearing terminal racemes of waxy pink-coloured flowers and showy red berries, which, like many of the other species, hang for months after they are ripe. It forms a pretty margin or edging plant, being perfectly hardy, and of a neat compact habit of growth. The varieties "major" and "maximum" are American forms with larger leaves, more robust, and equally ornamental with the species.

Empetrum

Of this family of diminutive evergreens, little more need be said than that, though wanting in that showy appearance which renders some of their allies such universal favourites, they are all pretty little plants, and interesting as varieties in a collection, forming useful edging or permanent bedding plants, their dense procumbent habits of growth eminently fitting them for such purposes. In foliage and general appearance they resemble the Heaths, with which they were formerly associated. They all bear edible berries in considerable abundance, which are ripe in November. All the kinds grow freely in the ordinary peat-beds, but prefer a damp shady situation. Among the species and varieties generally grown we select the following two as being on the whole the most desirable.

Nigrum

The well-known Crowberry of our moors; is also found distributed over a wide area in northern Europe and North America, growing in similar situations. Its small Heath-like leaves are dark green, the flowers are of a purplish-white colour, and the berries jet black and very ornamental.

Rubrum

A native of the southern coast of South America; resembles the other species in habit; the leaves and branches have white woolly margins; the flowers are of a dull purple colour, and the berries bright red. This is the finest of the genus, and has a most beautiful effect when associated with other foliage plants in spring or permanent bedding; it is equally hardy with the European species.

Myrica

"With inconspicuous flowers produced in brown scaly catkins, resembling those of the Birch, the Myricas would scarcely be admitted to the American garden if floral display was the only passport; they are nevertheless graceful shrubs, with elegant foliage possessing a delightful aromatic fragrance, a quality which of itself should insure them a larger share of attention than they have hitherto received. They grow freely in almost every situation if supplied with a moderate quantity of peat, and have a pretty effect in mixed collections of shrubs, either in the American garden proper, or in the ordinary pleasure-grounds. The young twigs blend most beautifully among cut flowers in bouquets, their value for this purpose being enhanced by the scent, which is pleasant to most tastes. Among the species and varieties known in our gardens the following may be recommended as the most ornamental.

Cerifera

Well known as the Candleberry Myrtle; is a shrub growing from 5 to 8 feet high; a native of swamps in Canada and the United States, having shining green leaves of a lanceolate form, and flowering in this country about the beginning of May; the berries or drupes are ripe in October, and are covered with a white vegetable wax, which is separated by boiling in water, and in some parts of America extensively used, either alone or in combination with animal fat, for making candles. Of this species there are two or three well-marked varieties, among which latifolia, with broader leaves and a more robust habit of growth, is the most ornamental.

Gale

Sweet.Gale or Bog Myrtle is a deciduous shrub growing from 2 to 4 feet high, found wild in moors in this country, and over a wide area in northern Europe and America; is the most fragrant of the Myricas, and forms a neat shrub with pretty foliage, and well worth a place in collections of peat-soil plants; to grow it well it should have a damp situation and plenty of peat.

Californica

From California and the north-west coast of America; is a handsome bushy evergreen, growing from 8 to 12 feet high; the leaves are very fragant, of a narrow lanceolate shape, and densely arranged on the branches; the flowers, which are of a light-green colour, come out in July in short axillary spikes, succeeded by small berry-like fruit of a dull-red colour, ripe in September. It is quite hardy in this country, and though, like the other species, preferring peat, it grows well in any rich loamy soil; and though comparatively little known, is a valuable ornamental shrub.

In concluding our papers upon peat-soil shrubs, we may remark that there are many highly-ornamental plants, which, either from their being herbaceous, or the facility with which they grow in common soil, do not properly come within the scope of our notes, but which grow well in peat, and may, with skilful selection and judicious arrangement, be introduced into the American garden with the happiest effect, prolonging the flowering season, and by their distinct foliage imparting a richness and beauty which could not otherwise be obtained. If there is a weak point in a garden specially set apart for American shrubs, it is the paucity of flowers in midsummer and autumn; and in the selection of such plants preference should be given to those that bloom after the Rhododendrons, so as to secure a succession during the greater portion of the year. Among the many plants suitable for this purpose, we may instance Yucca gloriosa, recurvifolia, and filamentosa; Tritoma uvaria and Burchellii; Gynerium argenteum (Pampas grass); Arundo donax variegata and conspicua, the latter resembling the Pampas grass, but more slender and elegant, besides blooming earlier in summer; Phormium tenax, and its pretty variety, variegatum; the various species and varieties of the Royal Fern, Osmunda; and the Gladiolus, with its many shades of colour - which, without interfering with the growth of the shrubs, have a grand appearance in autumn, as they present their gaudy spikes among the green foliage which surrounds them.

Hugh Fraser.