similar effect. This latter combination may be seen at Kew, Almond 
where the sketch was painted; but no doubt the pleasure is and other 
partly derived from association with Italy, and recollections Blossoming 
of Cypress and Almond with a setting of blue sea or mountain. Trees and 
Almonds should be grown also with Prunus divaricatus and Heather 
P. cerasifera or the Myrobalan Plum; the dark, stiff branches of 
the latter studded with white flowers, and the more graceful sprays 
of divaricatus, would either of them be fascinating as a background. 
P. cerasifera is frequently used for hedges as it grows quickly; asa 
garden shrub it has been neglected, but if left unpruned it grows 
to a good-sized tree and is valuable for the earliness of its bloom. 
If Almonds, or either of these early varieties of Prunus, are 
standing in the open, the grass below may be sprinkled with 
mauve, purple, or white Crocuses to add to the beauty of the 
group, or the trees may have a carpet of some of the early 
Heathers. Many of these are very pretty, and bestow on the 
garden white, or rose pink tones at a time when such colouring 
is rare, their dark foliage softening and enriching the effect. 
Though these Heathers flower so early, they last till the 
appearance of the first Daffodils, making it as well to put the 
pink trees, with their rose-coloured or mauve carpet, where they 
will not clash with the yellows of spring. Erica carnea is 
usually in perfection about the middle of March, but the striking 
tufts of colour begin very often as early as January. Fortunately 
it does not need peat, but grows well in ordinary loam. rica 
mediterranea flowers about the same time. It is taller and less 
brilliant in colour, but their two shades of pink blend well. 
Apart from its more vivid cousin, this Mediterranean 
Heather, growing, as one sees it in Cornwall, at the edge of 
1 See frontispiece. 
107 
