a carpet as Euonymus varigata, or the more lovely rosy patches Chionodoxa 

 of Cyclamen Coum, but could surely have no such beautiful under 

 undergrowth as the blue of Chionodoxa or S cilia sibirica. The Shrubs 

 Myrobalan Plum, Prunus ceraslfera, also loaded with white 

 blossom at this moment, would look equally well above a sheet 

 of real sky blue. 



Many evergreens form also suitable backgrounds the dark 

 green foliage of the Ceanothus divaricatus, shown in the sketch, 

 seemed particularly to add to the beauty of the blue. At Kew 

 these shrubs have attained the height of small trees, and look as 

 if they must be absolutely hardy, but newly planted bushes were 

 with us seriously cut by the frost last winter. As a rule the 

 varieties of Ceanothus, coming from a warm climate like that of 

 California, are safest on a wall in a sunny position. Many 

 of them unite the advantage of being evergreen with the 

 beauty of their flowers, and are excellent for covering large 

 surfaces. 



C. veitchianus clothes a wall with exquisite blue in May, 

 and the glossy dark foliage is always neat and pretty. In certain 

 places it does well as a shrub, even thriving on our north-east 

 coast in a Yorkshire " slack," and, with Veronica prostrata 

 growing at its feet, makes a wonderful study in blues against 

 the sea. Eccrcmocarpus scabra, on a wall where it will stand 

 the winter, is a good neighbour for the Ceanothus, and produces 

 its orange flowers and tendrils of fresh green at the same time. 

 The bright blue C. papillosus also flowers in May, and should 

 be grown near the cream variety velutinus. 



Later in the year follow many other varieties. 



C. azureus is hardier than either of the above, and has 

 been the origin of several hybrids Indigo, a deep beautiful blue, 



9 1 



