PLANTS FOR POOR SOILS 197 



both lovely in itself and in relation to the colour 

 of the leaves. The radical leaves are rather large 

 and spreading; the flower stems, each bearing from 

 twelve to fifteen of the large blooms, are three feet 

 high and richly ornamented, for they are clothed 

 with a leafy growth, handsomely waved and scal- 

 loped and spine-edged, just as if each of the long 

 stalk-leaves grew on to the stem by its mid-rib 

 for half its length or more. 



Gaultheria Shallon must not be forgotten among 

 dwarf shrubs that will flourish in sand. It is slow 

 to move when first planted, but like many plants 

 that run underground, it grows and spreads fast 

 when well established. It has the unusual merit 

 of doing well under trees, and will even grow under 

 Scotch Firs, though not perhaps under their deepest 

 shade. And sand-loving is the sweet wild Thyme 

 and its garden varieties, and others of the dwarf 

 sweet-herbs, whose fragrant merit is so great that it 

 should not be wasted by their being grown only in 

 the kitchen garden. 



The handsome Corchonis japonicus, so well grown 

 in cottage gardens, is also a sand shrub, and so is 

 the pretty Tea- tree {Lycium euro;pceu7ri), so good for 

 covering porches and arbours. 



Few Roses are natives of sandy places, but we have 

 a grand exception in the Burnet Rose and its garden 

 varieties the Scotch Briers, described in the chapter 

 on Brier Roses. It is true that the two wild Roses, 



