86 MY SHRUBS 
doubtful hardiness. In its New Zealand home it attains to the 
size of a tree, but such energies are not likely to be displayed in 
England. 
Ononis rotundifolia is a bright little shrubby pea from South 
Europe. The flowers are pink, and it will thank you for full sun 
and very light, sandy soil. O. fruticosa has purple flowers and less 
charm. These have vanished from my garden patch, but they 
used to smile here of old. O. Natrix, too, I had—a yellow Rest- 
harrow—but that made only a short stay. 
The hardy Opuntias have been welcomed and received with 
hospitality in arid rocky corners having full sun and perfect drain- 
age ; but they can make little of our wet winters and moisture- 
laden air. All have passed to their rest, and not one ever opened 
a flower during the most promising summers. 
Origanum Dictamnus, from Crete, is a delightful sub-shrub for 
the sunny rockery. A shower of dull pink blossoms covers the 
Dittany in late summer, and after flowering, it is best to cut it 
back hard. 
Osmanthus aquifolium looks like a dark-leaved holly with un- 
usually graceful and sinuous habit. This beautiful evergreen 
comes from Japan, is perfectly hardy and very effective. After a 
fine summer, tufts of very fragrant little snow-white flowers peep 
from among the leaves, but some hot sunshine in July and August 
is needed to summon the November bloom. O. ilicifolia, often 
given as a synonym of the above-named species, is in reality of 
different habit and foliage. O. myrtifoha is a beautiful little 
dwarf species; while, of comparative novelties, the splendid 
O. Delavayi, a Chinese hardy shrub with small neat foliage and 
sweet flowers in April, cannot be excluded. It is a generous 
