MY: SHRUBS 27 
queen of them all, so far she has only dwelt out of doors in a cool 
peat bed during summer, built up her bud, and then came in when 
November returned. Each spring I decide that she shall go to 
ground definitely ; but she prospers so splendidly in a pot, and is 
such a glory for the house during March, when she blossoms, 
that in a pot she still remains, with sundry other treasures. Of 
course, on a sheltered wall, in half shade facing west, the splendid 
shrub is hardy here, yet even in Devon one seldom sees it really 
prosperous out of doors. The large flower is a rosy crimson, 
semi-double, and enriched by a splendid tassel of golden anthers. 
One could wish to see Capparis spinosa, the European caper 
tree, in our gardens or upon our walls, for it might, with slight 
aid, weather a Devon winter; but I have no knowledge of the 
shrub nearer than Provence. It is a beautiful thing, and would 
probably germinate and prosper if seed were sown in the nooks of 
a good old brick wall facing south. 
Cantua buxifolia, from the Peruvian Andes, is a fine shrub, but 
difficult and very tender. I have failed to flower it against a wall, 
and even now, in a cold house, it puts forth its long, trumpet- 
like purple blossoms but seldom. This is mere bad fortune, or, 
more probably, ignorance, for the plant is said to thrive in the West. 
Caragana leaves me cold. I get tired of these pea-flowered 
blossoms. There are caraganas still skulking about in corners 
here ; but I slight them, and occasionally, catching sight of one 
flaunting his insignificance, drag him up and give him away to a 
friend who professes to like them. Caragana gerardiana is a 
mildly interesting dwarf species. 
Carmichelia australis from New Holland, has been a great 
success with me, and now stands nine feet high and covers itself 
