FLOWERS FROM JAPAN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21882, 18 August 1934, Page 5 (Supplement)

FLOWERS FROM JAPAN

No country has contributed more flowers and flowering shrubs to British gardens than Japan. Even the man who is no gardener knows that the chrysanthemum came from Japan, and most winter-flowering shrubs are Japanese in their origin. The winterflowering jasmine came from Japan. It flowers in the Northern Hemisphere in December and all through January. After it comes the Pyrus Japoniea, which blooms in March, and the Cydonia Japoniea, with brilliant red flowers, one of the hardiest of springJiowering shrubs. The hydrangeas, blue and white, are Japanese, so is the lovely camellia, which, though generally grown in hothouses, flourishes out of doors in South Devon and Cornwall. Weigelia and berberis are Japanese; so are the, exquisite azalea, with its wonderful variety of colours, and the wistaria, which was taken to England about 130 years - ago, and is the most beautiful of all climbing shrubs. In China they plant it along the rivers and use the tough stems as cables for hauling boats up the rapids. The polyantha rose grows wild on sandy ground near the coast in Japan, and in England it is a garden treasure.