72 MY SHRUBS 



With Luculia gratissima I name one of the very best shrubs 

 in my little group. This evergreen from the temperate Hima- 

 layas is almost hardy, but since it makes up bud in late autumn 

 and flowers during December and January, it cannot dwell all 

 the year out of doors. Failing the border of a cold house, my 

 plan has been to grow in a large pot, which is plunged in half 

 shade on a peat bed during May, and taken in again when the 

 trusses of bud have set at the end of October. At Christmas 

 the bright pink and splendidly fragrant blossoms appear, and 

 for a few red-letter days the plant joins the family circle. It 

 then returns to the cold house, as the dry air of a dwelling-room 

 daunts it. Among Luculia's other virtues you may number the 

 fact that the blossom cluster keeps pink and sweet and perfect 

 for a month. One ought really to write a poem to Luculia, 

 whose native name, Luculi, has happily been retained. There is 

 a second species, L. pinceanay from the mountains of Khasia, 

 which I know not. But the flower is white, and is said to possess 

 even a richer fragrance than the Himalayan. Lose no time in 

 securing this precious shrub. 



The tree lupin is a genial evergreen nobody for a spare 

 corner. There are many varieties of Lupinus arbor eus in 

 cultivation, but none much better than the old yellow type. 

 Gauntlett's " Snow Queen," however, is to be specially 

 esteemed. By the way, I have a giant lupin here over seven 

 feet high — a herbaceous purple variety grown from seed sent 

 by a friend in Florida. The colour is not unpleasing, and 

 the flower very fragrant. This enormous species might be 

 crossed with some other lupin, and produce a great herbaceous 

 hybrid. 



