This section is from the book "Manual Of Gardening", by L. H. Bailey. Also available from Amazon: Manual of Gardening.
The following list of shrubs (of course not complete) comprises a selection with particular reference to southern Michigan and central New York, where the mercury sometimes falls to fifteen degrees below zero. Application is also made to Canada by designating species that have been found to be hardy at Ottawa.
The list is arranged alphabetically by the names of the genera.
The asterisk (*) denotes that the plant is native to North America.
The double dagger (J) indicates species that are recommended by the Central Experimental Farms, Ottawa, Ontario.
It is often difficult to determine whether a group should be listed among shrubs or trees. Sometimes the plant is not quite a tree and is yet something more than a shrub or bush; sometimes the plant may be distinctly a tree in its southern range and a shrub in its northern range; sometimes the same genus or group contains both shrubs and trees. In the following genera there are doubtful cases: aesculus, alnus, amelanchier, betula, caragana, Castanea, Cornus (C. florida), Crataegus, elae agnus, prunus, robinia.
Attractive in habit, foliage, and flower; produces a large foliage mass.
Several bushy species of alder are good lawn or border subjects, particularly in wet places or along streams, as A. viridis,* A. rugoea,* A. incana* and others.
Flowers profusely in spring before the leaves appear; some of them be. come small trees.
Require partial shade, and a woodsy soil.
Showy red and yellow or orange flowers; hardy north.
Native on the Atlantic seashore, but grows well when planted Inland; valuable for its white fluffy " bloom " (pappus) in latest fall; 4-10 ft.
Very early-blooming bush of wet places, the yellow, clustered, small flowers preceding the leaves; 6-10 ft.
Common barberry; 4-6 ft. The purple-leaved form (var. purpurea X) is popular.
One of the best of lawn and border shrubs, with compact and attractive habit, deep red autumn foliage and bright scarlet berries in profusion in fall and winter; excellent for low hedges; 2-4 ft.
Evergreen; needs some protection in exposed places; 1-3 ft.
Desirable for low places; 3-10 ft.
An evergreen shrub, useful for hedges and edgings in cities; several varieties, some of them very dwarf. See page 220.
Dull purple, very fragrant flowers; 3-8 ft.
Flowers pea-like, yellow, in May; very hardy; 10-15 feet.
Very small, 1-3 ft, but sometimes grafted on C. arborescent.
Flowers larger than those of C. arborescens; 3-10 ft.
Larger-flowered than the last, which it resembles; 4 ft.
Flowers bright blue, in late summer and fall; 2-4 ft., but is likely to die to ground in winter.
Becomes a small tree, but usually bushy.
A very small native shrub, desirable for dry places under trees; 2-3 ft. There are many good European garden forms of ceanothus, but not hardy in the northern states.
Blossoms in July and August; desirable for water-courses and other low places; 4-10 ft.
Shrub as large as lilac, or becoming tree-like, with fringe-like white flowers in spring.
A very fine, hardy shrub, producing very fragrant flowers in July and August; should be better known; 4-10 ft.
Pea-like yellowish flowers in June, and big inflated pods; 8-12 ft.
Branches deep red; 4-8 ft.; the variegated form (Recommended) has leaves edged white.
Probably the finest of the native osiers for color of twigs and foliage; 6-8 ft.
The red twigs are very showy in winter; 5 to 8 ft.; some bushes are brighter in color than others.
Very showy tree or big shrub, desirable for borders of groups and belts. A red-flowered variety is on the market.
Becoming a small tree, 15-20 ft.; flowers numerous in bunches, yellow, before the leaves; fruit, cherry-like, edible, red.
A well-known purple-leaved shrub, usually catalogued as C. Avellana purpurea. The eastern American species (C. Americana * and C. rostrata *) are also interesting.
Several species of Cotoneaster are suitable for cultivation in the middle and southern latitudes. They are allied to Crataegus. Some are evergreen. Some kinds bear handsome persistent fruits. Some are hardy North.
The native thorn apples or hawthorns, of numerous species, are amongst our best large shrubs for planting and should be much better known; 6-20 ft.
 
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