A WINTER GARDEN OF TREES 57 



Christmas, Mezereon flushes into rosy purple, and 

 bushes of Winter-sweet (Chimonanthus fragrans), inde- 

 pendent of a wall (as few people know), will breathe 

 out its perfume from leafless branches studded over 

 with waxen-yellow flowers. It is strange how many 

 of these winter-blooming plants keep their leaves 

 well out of harm's way, brave as their flowers may 

 be. But so it is, and so we learn that if we would 

 gain their fullest winter beauty, we must group them 

 with evergreen shrubs as foil or background. 



And what store there is of these to choose from, 

 not green only, but colour-tinged Berberis of many 

 kinds, the shining ordered leaf-rows of Azara, the 

 purple tints of Mahonia and Gaultheria, the bronze of 

 Andromeda buds, the deep dull green of Osmanthus, 

 the wine red of Leucothoe, the pearl grey of Atriplex, 

 and a hundred more will respond to our beck and 

 call. Only we must choose with judgment, for 

 whether our lot is cast in north or south, in the 

 black east or soft caressing west, makes all the differ- 

 ence to our choosing. Only be sure that more 

 important still than climate are the wind-breaks we 

 can plan, and the shelter we may contrive. Yet 

 when we are in doubt we can always come back 

 with satisfaction to the quick-growing hardiest shrubs 

 and find in them some fit setting for our garden 

 picture. The slender angled branches of green 

 Broom, the rigid spiny Furze, scented Rosemary, or 

 hoary Lavender all will lend their varied tints and 

 attributes as we need them. And if a pool or stream 

 only gives us opportunity, what can surpass the 



