Of all poetic flowers, this to me is the most poetic. It is 
evanescent as a dew-drop, as full of quivering color as a butter- 
fly poised on a leaf stem, as perfect in flower arrangements 
indoors, as out. In short, while neither showy nor of long bloom- 
ing season, w^hen it is gone the Columbine lives in the eye of 
memory, as music or fragrance lives, by its spirit. 
Jane B. Benedict. 
Pasadena Garden Club 
Native To Southern Ca,lifornians v/ho wish to keep down the labor in 
Shrubs their gardens during the long dry season when irrigation is a 
necessity, certain of the non-deciduous native shrubs are of 
especial value, as they can be depended upon to take pretty good 
care of themselves with a minimum of attention. Of course the 
artificial and circumscribed conditions of a garden put a wild 
plant at some disadvantage as compared with the unrestricted 
open to which nature has fitted it, and it \^all be the better for 
some care, such as an occasional watering, the loosening of the soil 
about it, and always a sharp lookout for scale. 
Among desirable native shrubs for the purpose may be 
mentioned the Coast Sumacs, Rhus ovata and B. integrifolia, 
with glossy, leathery leaves; the neat looking mountain-Mahog- 
anies, Cercocarpus, of several species ; the various species of 
Ceanothus, or Mountain-Lilac ; and two species of Rhamnus- 
crocea with small, shiny leaves and winter clusters of currant- 
like berries studding the branches, and R. Calif ornica, commonly 
called Coffee-berry or Cascara sagrada, with larger leaves and 
bigger berries running a gradual scale of color from green, 
through yellow and maroon, to black-purple. None of 
our native shrubs under cultivation has given me greater 
pleasure than a Wild Currant that I planted in a neglected 
spot in my garden a few years ago — Rihes glutinosum, 
the Incense shrub. It is a poor subject in its summer deshabille, 
but after a soaking rain in late September or October, or failing 
that, a good irrigation, its buds quickly begin to swell, and in a 
short time the whole bush glows with color from drooping 
racemes of pink blossom.s that have the happy faculty of length- 
ening as they open. The blooming begins at the bottom of the 
racem.e and progresses leisurely until the tip h reached, and 
three months or even more elapse before the last pink bud has 
spread its nectar table for the bees. 
Another native shrub that does well in our Coast gardens is 
Cowania Mexican the Navajo Cliff-Rose. It is of the Far West, 
but not indigeno'' to California, a plant of the Rocky Mountain' 
region. It is of a rather straggling habit with very small, deep- 
toothed leaves and bark that hangs in long, disheveled shreds. 
It nas two especial features that make it worth while in the 
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