March, 1917 
37 
is that of a purely American shrub 
which is evergreen in its habit, the 
native laurel or calico bush. In the 
masses of it which Nature plants, 
it furnishes a display of floral 
splendor hardly surpassed by any¬ 
thing in the world, and certainly 
rivalled by only a few things. Its 
near relative, the rhododendron, 
grows all over the world, practical¬ 
ly; but laurel is distinctly a North 
American species. 
These two belong to quite a 
wonderful plant family, a family 
which it is necessary to know if 
one is really to know anything 
about evergreen shrubs; and as the 
entire family shares to a marked 
degree the same likes and dislikes, 
and requires the same general care 
and attention, I am going to enu¬ 
merate such of its numbers as we, 
in our gardens, have occasion to 
become acquainted with. 
The Heath Family 
The name of this family is 
Ericacece to the botanist; to the 
man of common speech, heath. 
The heather of English moors has 
probably the greatest general pop¬ 
ularity of any of the breed, and 
has been praised in song and story 
In all cases, naturalism is the primary con¬ 
sideration xchen using the hroad leaved ever¬ 
greens. Aliout the house particular care 
should he taken in accomplishing this 
When mass planting is followed icith rhodo¬ 
dendrons, scraggly specimens must never he 
allowed in the foreground. The foliage 
should reach the ground in front, as here 
with greater sentiment than all of 
the rest. All heathers are mem¬ 
bers of the family, and being so 
abundant have given the common 
name which they gained from the 
waste spaces whereon they grow 
—“heath”—to all their relations. 
So then we come to the rhodo¬ 
dendrons and the laurel and the 
azaleas, as well as to an interest¬ 
ing little s h r u b which is called 
Labrador tea or wild rosemary in 
the folk tongue —Ledum latifo- 
litim in formal speech. The leaves 
of this are somewhat aromatic 
and it is said that they were dried 
and used as a substitute for tea 
during the Revolutionary War. 
Many things served as such sub¬ 
stitutes in those days. 
Peculiarity of Growth 
Running the gamut in plant in- 
di\ iduality though they cio, there 
is yet one thing which is especial¬ 
ly mentioned in connection with 
every one of these widely differing 
allied species, wherever they are 
described and their habits noted: 
“grows best in a moist, peaty or 
sandy soil.” Without exception, 
this is their preference—“a moist, 
{Continued on page 60) 
The flowering evergreen shruhs do not com- 
hine well with deciduous sorts. H distinct 
line of demarcation should separate them 
from such other plantings 
