i 4 4 TREES AND SHRUBS 



when a shelving mass of earth had to be shored-up 

 as quickly as possible with such material as lay ready 

 to hand at the moment. This happened to be found 

 in a heap of ugly, yellowish, water-worn boulders of 

 great size, which abound in that particular locality, 

 at no great distance below the ground-level, and 

 must be dug out when any deep trenching has 

 to be done. There was no time to be wasted in 

 facing the stones, which would have made them 

 more sightly, and they had to be used as they were. 

 Fortunately a large consignment of the best hardy 

 Heaths had lately arrived from the Darley Dale 

 Nurseries, and were immediately seized upon to 

 cover up the ugliness of the hastily-built-up barricade. 

 Boulders and Heaths, however, took to each other 

 kindly, in spite of a soil by no means specially suit- 

 able, and with the addition, later, of a few good 

 kinds of Cistus and other shrubs, the bank still 

 remains as happy a bit of rough planting as could 

 be desired. 



Of the taller Heaths, E. lusitanica is somewhat tender, 

 and is not so generally useful as E. mediterranea or 

 E. arborea (Tree Heath). A hybrid form E. medi- 

 terranea x E. carnea is excellent, and comes into 

 flower about Christmas, in advance of either of its 

 parents, when its pale-purple spikes are very welcome, 

 and are quite distinct from the rosy-red flowers of E. 

 carnea : it is known as E. mediterranea hybrida. The 

 foliage of hardy Heaths is never unsightly, but the 

 persistent dead flowers are, and these should always 

 be clipped off as soon as their beauty is over, or the 



