134 TREES AND SHRUBS 



as Heaths, but unlike them in general appearance, 

 such as the Alpine Rhododendrons, R, ferrugineum 

 and R. hirsutum, and the less well-known but very 

 beautiful and distinct R. racemosum, as well as some 

 of the miniature varieties of Azalea indica, notably 

 R. obtusa and its forms, seem peculiarly suitable for 

 the Rock Garden. Again, where rock meets more 

 level ground, and the trickle of a stream can be so 

 directed as to give moisture without sogginess, a 

 considerable number of peat-loving evergreen shrubs 

 belonging to the same order, of the type of Gaultheria, 

 Vaccinium, and Pieris, may be used with excellent 

 effect. Gaultheria Shallon, indeed, is a singularly fine 

 shrub in any position, and is not very exacting in 

 any of its requirements. Growing about 2 feet high, 

 with purple leaf-tints in winter, and spikes of white 

 waxy flowers, brightly tinged with red, in spring, 

 which are followed by purple fruit, few things can 

 surpass it in its way. For carpeting moist spots, the 

 little G, procumbeus, which rises scarcely 3 inches 

 from the ground, will fill a useful place with its 

 winter colouring of crimson brown. Shrubs of this 

 class are well worth study by those whose locality 

 admits of their cultivation. 



For dry, sunny, and stony banks Rock Roses may 

 be chosen, but the position must be wind-screened, 

 a more important factor in the question of their 

 hardiness than cold. The large-growing Gum Cistus 

 is well known and tolerably hardy everywhere, and 

 so also is C. laurifolius, but there are several most 

 desirable species of dwarfer growth, such as the 



