170 BROAD-LEAVED EVERGREENS 



times far to seek. England has no real wildness only symbols 

 like broom and gorse and heather. We still have a little 

 primeval forest. 



I should not like to see miles of heather in America, because 

 heather belongs to British character and not to us. Field mice 

 will probably keep us from using it on a big scale, for they nest 

 in it and gnaw the branches. 



But a collection of heather is a very sweet and precious thing. 

 This involves only a few beds. Here you may grow specimens 

 from friends in Europe or localities you have visited. The common 

 and Scotch heathers you can have in half a dozen colours. 

 Then there is the alpine heath that marks the dawn of spring, the 

 bell heather or cross-leaved heath which has bright green foliage 

 all winter, the Cornish heath which blooms in October and has a 

 sweet scent, the Irish heath which blooms from July till frost, 

 Dabcec's heath which has drooping racemes, and so on. 



The heath collection at the Arnold Arboretum is an eye- 

 opener. It looks as if the books were mistaken in advising par- 

 tial shade for heaths in winter, for they thrive in full sunshine at 

 the Arboretum. Professor Sargent thinks that we have neglected 

 one of the most important materials of landscape gardening and 

 and that we could create great and splendid colour pictures with 

 the hardy heaths. 



THE CLIMBING EFFECTS 



The most precious evergreen climber in the world is the ivy, 

 because it has been loved longest by the human race. Therefore 

 we ought to grow it wherever we can, but only on stone and brick 

 buildings. The English sometimes make the mistake of sending 

 ivy up tall trees. Why hide a characteristic beauty, like the trunk 

 of a beech? Even when a tree is about to die this is a bad practice, 



