ARBUTUS. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ARCTOTIS. 



433 



Crooniei, which has longer and broader 

 leaves than the common kind. The 

 variety rubra has almost bright scarlet 

 flowers in autumn. One varietv has double 







\ \ \ 







position is best. In the south and west 

 of England, and in Ireland, the fruits are 

 freely borne, and a large specimen is 

 very handsome in fruit. 



ARCTOSTAPHYLOS (Bear-berry}. 

 Mostly trailing Alpine evergreens of the 

 Heath order, of which few are in cultivation. 

 Of this group A. alpina is useful for rocky 

 banks, edging bog-beds, or even in bogs. 

 A. Uva-ursi (Bear-berry) is a dwarf ever- 

 green mountain shrub, I ft. high often 

 less sometimes grown with rock-plants. 

 It has small rose flowers in early summer 

 and red berries in autumn. A. alpina. 

 The Black Bear-berry has trailing stems 

 and white or flesh coloured flowers. It is 

 abundant in hilly places in Europe and 

 N. America. Grows in any soil, but prefers 

 a moist border or ledge. Division. A. 

 nitida is a Mexican half-hardy evergreen 

 with shining green leaves and white 

 flowers. The dwarf, much branched, A. 

 pungens, is also a native of Mexico ; 

 while the shrubby, hardy A. tomentosa 

 comes from N. W. America. 



ARCTOTIS. Showy half hardy com- 

 posites from the Cape, numbering between 

 forty and fifty species, for the most part 

 little known. The bright colours of many 

 of the species are more intense in the open 

 air than when the plants are cramped in 

 pots in a greenhouse. Dry sunny banks 

 often devoid of plant life might be beauti- 

 fully clothed with them. Although true 

 sun-loving plants, they may be used as a 

 groundwork in spots where, unmindful of 

 the shade if not too dense, they flower 

 almost as freely as when fully exposed to 



Aralia spinosa. From a photograph sent by Mr. 

 C. L. Mayor, Paignton, Devon. 



flowers, and there are a number of so- 

 called varieties differing only a little in the 

 form of the leaf. S. Europe, and also wild 

 in the south of Ireland. The other species 

 are not so important as flowering trees, 

 though good evergreens where they will 

 face the climate. A. Andrac/ine, with 

 smooth ruddy-tinged bark, is hardy in the 

 south and coast districts ; about London it 

 reaches a height of over 15 ft. It grows 

 wild in Greece, and is a very old tree in 

 gardens. The fine Californian Arbutus 

 are not hardy with us. These shrubs 

 succeed best in a deep light loam, and 

 will thrive on chalky soils much better 

 than many other evergreen shrubs, j 

 -In planting them, a warm sheltered I 



Arctotis arborescens. 



F F 



