MY SHRUBS 59 
handsome evergreen shrub under the shelter of a wall. This lace 
bark or ribbon wood, of New Zealand, is a fine thing, and nearly 
hardy. The flowers are white, and appear in spring time at the 
end of the branchlets, but the plant needs to attain some size before 
bearing them. 
Hovenia dulcis is a rare, deciduous shrub from Japan and the 
Himalayas, but a wall is probably the place for this choice thing 
at home; and, until it has attained some strength and substance, 
you will do better to keep it in a pot and winter it in a cold house. 
I have only just procured a piece, and cannot speak as to the white 
flowers and sweet fruit. It thrives and is much used in Australia. 
Hydrangea is also here, but this is a shrub that won’t blow blue 
with me, though H. paniculata as a half-standard is well enough. I 
suppose one needs iron tonics to coax hydrangea blue in a limestone 
soil; I heard that peat would do so; but it did not. One might 
have thought that H. azureus from China would have come true, 
but this turned as pink as the rest. You must see Hydrangea in 
Cornish gardens to know its real glory and loveliest shades of azure. 
Hymenanthera crassifolia is a neat and trim New Zealander, 
of the best constitution. The evergreen foliage is very small, and 
the inflorescence is minute, while bright white berries cover the 
plant during autumn. It is a good grower, and soon makes a 
specimen for the rock-work when suited below ground. dH. 
chathamica is also in cultivation—a dissimilar plant in every 
respect, and not, to my mind, so attractive. 
Hypericum I recognise as a most valuable and beautiful shrub 
in its many species; but for me it possesses no personal charm. 
H. coris, which I collected in the South, has made a prosperous 
little bush on a rockery. It is hardy here, and should be cut back 
