It attains 6ft(2m), is erect at first, later spreading, and bears large, slightly scented, saucer-shaped, white flowers which later open flat. All four are worth considering for the small garden even though the last three may need judicious pruning to contain them. All are lovely summer-flowering shrubs and without at least one of them the garden would be incomplete. Closely related to the philadelphus and just as important from a garden point of view are the deutzias. There are many species, hybrids and cultivars and, as in the previous genus, one must choose one and admire the rest in other people's gardens. Deutzia x hybrida and its cultivars are bold shrubs of fairly erect growth with long, handsome leaves and substantial panicles of flowers which are mainly in the pink, rose, purple range. The cultivar 'Contraste' has pink flowers marked purple on the reverse while in 'Joconde' the larger flowers are white within when fully open. 'Joconde' is also a taller-6 to 8ft(2 to 2.5m)-border shrub. Both flower in June and thrive best in dappled shade although an open situation is quite acceptable. One of the most satisfactory species is D. compacta, which develops a compact mounded habit, eventually up to 6ft(2m) tall, with exfoliating pale brown bark, orange-brown on the reverse. Its small, creamy-white flowers are carried in flattened heads in July. It has a cultivar, 'Lavender Time', in which the flowers are pale lilac. For those who would prefer a white-flowered deutzia, hardy and vigorous as well, the hybrid group D. xmagnifica has several contenders. If it had to be restricted to one, perhaps the cultivar 'Latiflora' would be most suitable. It is robust and easy to grow with large white flowers in dense panicles. One of the glories of British gardens in June are the lilacs in their multiplicity of form and colour. The numerous cultivars of the common lilac, Syringa vulgaris, are most popular but there are several species and their forms which are more graceful and far better suited to specimen planting, especially in lawns. One of these is S. reflexa, a Chinese shrub up to ioft(3m) or more with large leaves and long, densely-packed drooping panicles of rich, purplish-pink flowers, white within. These are produced from late May into June. Flowering over a similar period is S. xjosiflexa which bears its fragrant rose-pink flowers in loose, plume-like panicles from the tips of the arching shoots. There are several cultivars of this Canadian-bred hybrid one of which, 'Bellicent', is quite outstanding. Smaller than any already described is S. microphylla which was introduced from China by William Purdom. It is a pretty shrub up to 6ft(2m) tall with small, pointed leaves and rosy-lilac fragrant flowers in June and again in September. The cultivar 'Superba' is freer-flowering with rosy-pink flowers from May intermittently until October. S. meyeri is even more suited to the small garden because of its slow growth and dense, compact, rounded habit.