This book has been written and is published with the distinct object
in view of bringing home to the minds of planters of Hardy Trees and
Shrubs, the fact that the monotonous repetition, in at least nine-tenths
of our Parks and Gardens, of such Trees as the Elm, the Lime, and the
Oak, and such Shrubs as the Cherry Laurel and the Privet, is neither
necessary nor desirable. There is quite a host of choice and beautiful
flowering species, which, though at present not generally known are yet
perfectly hardy, of the simplest culture, and equally well adapted for
the ornamentation of our Public and Private Parks and Gardens.
Of late years, with the marked decline in the cultivation of Coniferous
Trees, many of which are ill adapted for the climate of this country,
the interest in our lovely flowering Trees and Shrubs has been greatly
revived. This fact has been well exemplified in the numerous enquiries
after these subjects, and the space devoted to their description and
modes of cultivation in the Horticultural Press.
In the hope, too, of helping to establish a much-desired standard of
nomenclature, I have followed the generic names adopted by the authors
of _The Genera Plantarum_, and the specific names and orthography, as
far as I have been able, of the _Index Kewensis_; and where possible
I have given the synonyms, the date of introduction, and the native
country. The alphabetical arrangement that has been adopted, both with
regard to the genera and species, it is hoped, will greatly facilitate
the work of reference to its pages. The descriptive notes and hints on
cultivation, the selected lists of Trees and Shrubs for various special
purposes, and the calendarial list which indicates the flowering season
of the different species, may be considered all the more valuable for
being concisely written, and made readily accessible by means of the
Index.
No work written on a similar plan and treating solely of Hardy
Ornamental Flowering Trees and Shrubs has hitherto been published;
and it is not supposed for a moment that the present one will entirely
supply the deficiency; but should it meet with any measure of public
approval, it may be the means of paving the way towards the publication
of a more elaborate work--and one altogether more worthy of the
interesting and beautiful Flowering Trees and Shrubs that have been
found suitable for planting in the climate of the British Isles.
Of the fully thirteen hundred species and varieties of Trees and Shrubs
enumerated, all may be depended upon as being hardy in some part of the
country. Several of them, and particularly those introduced from China
and Japan, have not before been included in a book of this character.
Trials for the special purpose of testing the hardiness of the more
tender kinds have been instituted and carried out in several favoured
parts of England and Ireland.
A.D.W.
HOLLYDALE, WOBURN.