Unlike the majority of gardeners I secretly prefer the species to the heavy-flowered hybrids which lack the beauty of shape or leaf to be worthy of a second look when not in flower. This may be because the species accept my acid soil with considerably better grace than the less agreeable hybrids. A neutral or alkaline soil is the ideal medium, but they do grow in well- drained acid clay. I feed each with a mixture of 3 parts bonemeal to part of sulphate of potash, at 3 oz. per sq. yd. in February.

Paul Thirion, the last to flower with trusses of rose blossom fading to lilac, is like so many inhabitants of this globe, admirable when young but with a distinct tendency towards decrepitude with advancing years.

Syringa x persica, the Persian Lilac, is a charming slender-branched shrub with lilac flowers in May. Its variety, alba, is similar except for the white flowers.

In S. x prestoniae can be found a race of hybrids quite unlike any of the others. They are vigorous and tolerant of a vast degree of exposure and soil types. The flowers are carried in large loose panicles. Audrey, deep lilac to pale pink, has made a bush 10 ft. high in 16 years in my garden and improves each year. Royalty has violet-blue flowers and is much the same height.

Tamarix gallica does well on the coast, but here the shoot tips are cut back each winter by frost. Fortunately this does not stop the large panicles of pink flowers opening in June, but it does restrict the height to about 6 ft. The tamarisks are most frequently represented in gardens by the species T. pentandra and T. tetranda. The former is late in flowering but usually mid-August sees the whole bush transformed into a foam of rosy-pink flowers – a truly gracious shrub. Pruned back hard in February it is more floriferous still but looses a little of its arching grace. Native of the Caucasus, T. tetrandra is the species usually planted, and certainly it is very attractive when the bright pink flowers open in May. Unlike the species previously described these are carried on the previous year’s growth, so pruning should be avoided so far as is compatible with the general health of the bush. Cuttings 8 to 10 in. long taken in November will root readily in light sandy soil.

The Japanese Snow Ball Tree, V. tomentosum plicatum, with double rows of flowers along horizontally arching branches in early June excites the admiration of all who see it. The dense spreading habit – a bush 10 years old will grow 4 ft. high by 6 ft. across, makes a pleasant contrast in shape even when the shrub is not in flower.