AUCUBA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



AZALEA. 



357 



neat edgings, and may be used as such 

 with good effect. There are one or 

 two variegated varieties. Aubrietias 

 are easy to naturalise in rocky places, 

 and may be easily got from seeds, 

 cuttings (young unflowered pieces 

 being the best), or by division. 



AUCUBA (Himalayan Laurel). A 

 noble evergreen which came into this 

 country in a curious way. Like the 

 young man from the country fas- 

 cinated by the painted lady on the 

 stage, the man who first brought it to 

 this country selected a poor spotted 

 form. People who love variegation 

 were delighted with this for years, and 



perfect health, and fruiting yearly. 

 Where it fruits well, it is very pretty 

 for indoor decoration. The natural 

 plant varies much in form of leaf, and 

 sometimes names are given to these 

 forms, but they have little value. 

 Where an evergreen covert is desired 

 under trees it might be well to use 

 Aucubas it is so easily increased, that 

 it would not be difficult to get a stock. 

 The Himalayan kind is thought by 

 Mr Bean not to differ very much from 

 the Japanese kind. 



AZALEA (Swamp Honeysuckle). 

 Beautiful upland and bog shrubs from 

 N. America, and, if only as a relie 



Purple Rock Cress (Aubrietia). 



it took long to find out the really good 

 things under this name. As with so 

 many other plants, variegation is a 

 disease. The natural plant is the best 

 evergreen yet introduced. It is fine 

 in colour and hardier than the true 

 Laurel, and has good qualities in all 

 ways for garden or woodland. I began 

 with the spotted kind, but, not loving 

 variegation in any form, I went to a 

 good nursery, where I picked out a 

 number of green forms, which differed 

 so much in leaf that I had the greatest 

 pleasure in using them. Fully exposed, 

 the foliage is very attractive, and the 

 plant has the precious quality of grow- 

 ing under Pines or various trees in 



from the heaviness of Rhododendrons, 

 their graceful growth is precious. 

 Nothing in the open garden is so charm- 

 ing as old Azalea bushes in flower, with 

 their branches in table-like tiers ; but 

 the brilliant tints always seem most 

 effective in the subdued light of a 

 shady wood, and happily few shrubs 

 flower better in partial shade than 

 Azaleas. They like shelter, even from 

 southerly winds, and peaty soil suits 

 them best, though they grow well in 

 loam. 



The hardy Azaleas, called Ghent 

 Azaleas, have sprung chiefly from 

 the wild kinds of N. America A. 

 nudi flora, 'A. calendulacea, and A. 



