44 



region, however, where produce rarely fails to 

 ripen, Nature has adopted special means to 

 preserve the balance, in the myriads of harvest- 

 ing-ants which garner the surplus stores of 

 autumn, and in diverting them to their own 



CISTUS LADANIFERUS. 



needs, prevent useless reproduction. These 

 ants are specially numerous in the warm light 

 soils loved of the Rock Rose, and much of their 

 lavish produce is thus diverted when the rough 

 winds of early autumn scatter broadcast the 

 seeds ripened during the preceding summer. 

 The seeds are round and smooth, and roll in all 

 directions down the rocky banks, until, finding 

 some chink in the soil, often in the crumbling 

 rock itself, it lies hidden until rain allows of 

 germination. Thrusting upwards from its re- 

 treat a few leathery leaves, and pushing down- 

 wards its hair-like rootlets into the veins or 

 crannies of the rock beneath, it pushes and 

 thrusts, slowly at first, but then rapidly, till 

 its root-stock is hard and woody, and tapered 

 like a wedge (which indeed it is), and, firmly 

 established, it can defy sun, rain, and wind. 

 Anyonewho wishestomake useof these lovely 

 shrubs must bear in mind these conditions and 

 as nearly as maybe reproduce them. But the 

 Rock Rose has here to face a degree of cold to 

 which it is normally unused, and for which it 

 is ill-prepared by our damp autumn days, and 

 herein lies the element of uncertainty which 

 has prevented its more general use in gardens. 



Still, anyone who has seen what the Cistus can 

 do, at Kew and other places in which it is un- 

 derstood, will not find it unworthy of a place 

 in any garden in which suitable conditions 

 exist. An idea of its beauty when massed and 

 allowed to spread naturally may 

 be gathered from our illustra- 

 tion, taken from one of the 

 sunny dells at Kew. These plants 

 are on a bank, dry and fully ex- 

 posed to the sun, but sheltered 

 from cold winds by the trend of 

 the ground and a belt of ever- 

 greens, and these conditions are 

 as good as could be found. It is 

 better not to mix them with 

 other things but plant bold 

 masses and leave them to ramble 

 at will, for they spread naturally 

 to catch as much sunlight as pos- 

 sible, and the presence of other 

 plants makes them drawn and 

 unfitted to resist bad weather. 

 A sheltered place in the wild 

 garden suits them to perfection 

 when strong enough to plant 

 out, for though it might be quite worth while 

 to try scattering a few seed broadcast, one can 

 only rely on seedlings raised and tended like 

 those of other shrubs in their early stages, and 

 it is always as well to keep a few plants in re- 

 serve in case of losses during the winter. They 

 may be increased from cuttings for the choice 

 varieties, from side-shoots taken off and rooted 

 under hand-lights in the early autumn; but to 

 use seed, easily obtained from the great dealers, 

 and sown in spring, is the simplest way. Where 

 there is no ready-made spot at hand, a plan 

 followed with good results is to throw up a 

 bank of light soil in the shelter of a wall, or 

 of evergreens so placed as to protect while not 

 castingshade, allowing at the same time ample 

 drainage, and if a few bold masses and slabs of 

 rough stone be half buried in the mass, so much 

 the better. The plants should be grouped as 

 naturally as possible around and amongst these 

 boulders, which aid drainage and absorb a great 

 deal of heat during summer, and then left alone, 

 pinching or training being quite unnecessary. 

 During very severe weather they will need some 

 protection. This is best given, not by muffling 

 up the plants, which are always injured by lack 



