224 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



leaved winter-flowering species ; but its golden-leaved form (aurea) is 

 the showiest of the group. It is strong in growth, and the greater part 

 of its leaves are rich yellow slightly margined with pale green. A grand 

 shrub for the lawn. 



Empetrum nigTUm (The Native Crowberry) flourishes in soil suit- 

 able for Heaths. It is a neat evergreen shrub, well adapted for edging 

 beds, and is also worthy of a place in a shady nook in the rock-garden. 

 It has small pink flowers and dark berries. 



The hardy Ericas (Heaths) are quite unfamiliar in many gardens. 

 The general belief that they only make satisfactory growth in peaty 

 soil is wrong, as they grow freely and flower abundantly in loamy 

 soil provided it is sweet, suitably drained, and free from lime. If an 

 annual surface dressing of leaf-mould can be given much good will result. 

 They may be used in a variety of ways with excellent effect. For in- 

 stance, the dwarf, cushion-like Heaths are serviceable for edgings to beds 

 of low-growing American shrubs, while the taller growing kinds are not 

 out of place in the shrubbery provided sunlight and air are not shut 

 out. The flowers appear over a long period, and some of the kinds 

 viz., lusitanica, mediterranea, and its varieties are produced when 

 flowers are by no means plentiful out of doors. The following is 

 a list of pretty Heaths suitable for the open garden, and it may be 

 taken as representing the various groups. E. lusitanica, from Spain 

 and Portugal, is rather tender, and at flowering time between 

 February and May few Heaths are more pleasing. The drooping 

 flowers are pale pink, almost white, and appear on almost every 

 small twig. The Tree Heath (E. arlorea) grows eight or nine feet 

 high and flowers about the same time as the last named. Its flowers 

 are white, a noble kind. E. tetralix, a native cross-leaved species, carries 

 a profusion of delicate pink flowers towards midsummer. The red and 

 white varieties are very beautiful, too, and delight in moist soil. 

 E. mediterranea is a free-growing species, often reaching three feet in 

 height, and is beautiful in mid-January with its pink flowers. The 

 variety hybrida is an improvement on the type. It flowers early, is of 

 erect habit, and exceptionally free. The pale pink flowers are very 

 lasting. The Grey Heath (E. cinerea), a native species, grows about 

 a foot high, and at midsummer has a profusion of purple flowers in 

 terminal racemes. E. carnea (Winter Heath) is a jewel. It is neat in 

 growth, wonderfully free, and flowers in the dead of the winter, the 

 colour being a pleasant shade of rose-pink. The variety alba also de- 

 serves mention, as it flowers at the same time. Planters should make 

 a note of these fine Heaths. The varieties of E. Calluna vulgaris are 

 useful garden shrubs. Plant them by the margin of shrubberies, in the 

 rock-garden, or as edgings to beds of Rhododendrons and Azaleas. 



Escallonias are seaside shrubs, and some of them are very free. 

 They form neat bushes, and for their foliage alone deserve greater re- 

 cognition. In very cold localities plant them against a wall, as they 

 are apt to suffer in very severe winters. They are all evergreen and 

 flourish in ordinary soil, but dislike positions exposed to east winds. 

 E. macrantha, the most frequently planted kind, is very handsome and 



