12 STUDIES IN GARDENING 



ularly the Squills and Chionodoxas, if planted deep, 

 and there is no reason why there should not also be 

 Crocuses, and even the dwarf er Tulips. Bulbs when 

 they die down leave a bare space for most of the 

 summer, and therefore it is well to carpet them with 

 creeping plants that will not interfere with their 

 growth. Nothing is so suitable for the purpose as 

 several species of Stonecrop, in particular Sedum 

 album, which will grow anywhere, and is beautiful 

 in and out of flower. 



The surface of the bank may also be varied here 

 and there with low-growing shrubs, and these are 

 much better for the purpose than tall plants, as they 

 do not look out of scale with the creeping plants 

 about them. But the shrubs should be chosen with 

 some care, and none of them should be of a straggling 

 habit of growth, or of a kind likely to suffer from 

 drought; for nothing is uglier in any part of the gar- 

 den than a sickly shrub. Luckily there are a good 

 many shrubs suitable for the purpose. The lowest 

 growing of all are some of the prostrate Artemisias 

 and brooms. Of the Artemisias, A. sericea is the best, 

 covering the ground with a carpet of beautiful sil- 

 very leaves and growing at a great pace. It is far 

 more robust than most of the other creeping species. 

 Among the brooms are Cytisus Ardoini, a very dwarf 

 plant with yellow flowers, C. Kewensis, a hybrid also 

 prostrate with paler flowers and rather larger in all 

 its parts, C. Schipkaensis, a small and beautiful white 

 flowered broom, the double form of the native Genista 



