i2o MY SHRUBS 



green foliage of this Chinese plant is very striking, while V. macro- 

 cephalum, also from China, with large trusses of snowy flowers, is 

 a treasure I have yet to acquire. I know not if V. odoratissimum, from 

 the Khasia Mountains in China, is cultivated to-day. The species 

 must be beautiful, though half-hardy. The blossom is said to have 

 the scent of Oleafragrans. 



Vinca, or Pervinca, which changes into Periwinkle quite easily, 

 is a good and familiar hardy trailer for spare corners in sun and 

 shade. There is a pretty variety of V. minor, with gold and green 

 leaves and white flowers. I have a great mass of V. media from the 

 Mediterranean region which grew wild round about Hyeres, and 

 was collected there by me. It is a very pale blue almost white 

 with dark bright foliage. V. rosea, from South Florida, belongs to 

 the stove, and I have not seen it, but it must be a beautiful subject. 

 Out of Madagascar the seed of this plant first went to France and 

 then came to England from Mr. Richard, gardener to the King 

 at Versailles and Trianon. So Curtis tells us in 1793 ; and a hundred 

 years earlier, Mr. Miller, who first cultivated Vinca rosea in England, 

 wrote how, " during the summer they should be kept in an airy 

 glass case, and in winter must be removed into the stove." Is this 

 good thing still in cultivation ? If not let us send to Madagascar 

 and regain it. The only Vitex that prospers in England out of doors 

 is the deciduous V. Agnus castus, the Chaste Tree, or Monk's 

 Pepper Tree, and even this South European is disappointing. With 

 us the shrub is hardy enough on a wall, but its late flowering habit 

 usually means that October finds the panicles still in bud, and after 

 the first fall of temperature, they make no further effort to open, 

 Bignonia grandiflora has the same unfortunate habit. I grow both 

 plants in full sun on a snug south wall, but have seldom been repaid 



