248 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



the growing shoots are ready to take the place of the brown and dead 

 ones, which then may be cleared away. 



EVERGREEN PLANTS. Apart from our evergreen shrubs, so happy 

 as these are in many parts of the British Isles, there are the oft- 

 neglected evergreen rock and herbaceous plants, such as Christmas 

 Roses, Barrenworts, Heuchera, Alexandrian Laurel, the bolder 

 evergreen ferns, and the large Indian Rockfoils, Saxifraga or 

 Megasea. In early winter these fine evergreen plants become a 

 deeper green, some forms getting red. They have been in our 

 gardens for years, but are seldom made a right use of; thrown 

 into borders without thought as to their habits, and soon forgotten 

 or overshadowed by other things ; so that we never get any expression 

 of their beauty or effect in masses or groups. Yet, if grouped in 

 effective ways, they would go on for years, giving us fine evergreen 

 foliage in winter. In addition to the wild kinds, a number of fine 

 forms have been raised in gardens of late years. Some thought 

 should be given to the placing of the large Rockfoils, their mountain 

 character telling us that they ought to be on open banks, borders, or 

 banky places exposed to the sun, and not buried among heaps of tall 

 herbaceous and miscellaneous vegetation. They are so easily grown 

 and increased that a little thought in placing them in visible masses is 

 the only thing they call for ; and the fact that they will endure and 

 thrive under almost any conditions should not prevent us from show- 

 ing how fine they are in effect when held together in any bold way, 

 either as carpets, bold edgings, or large picturesque groups on banks 

 or rocks. 



The Alexandrian Laurel (Ruscus racemosus) is a most graceful 

 plant, somewhat shrubby in character, with glossy dark green leaves 

 and Willow-like shoots. It is most free and happy on peaty and 

 friable soils, growing 3 feet or 4 feet high ; in winter the effect 

 is very good, and it is valuable for the house, to give a graceful and 

 distinct foliage to accompany various flowers at this season. It 

 grows very well in Ireland on the limestone. In clay soils it may 

 want a little encouragement, and it thrives well in partial shade. 



The Christmas Rose is a noble winter flower where well grown, and 

 is lovely in its wild state in the foot-hills of the Alps, in Italy and 

 countries near ; and, happily, it flowers in our gardens very well also, 

 varying a little in its ways. The stout kind (H. maximus) flowers in 

 the early winter in front of walls and in sheltered spots, and is hardy 

 and free in ordinary soil. The true Christmas Rose (H. niger) is a 

 little more particular ; it thrives much better on chalky and warm 

 soils, and grows best on a northern aspect or shaded place ; and even 

 in its own country the finest plants are found in places where it 

 escapes the sun. These are true winter flowers ; but hardly less so are 



