nerally useful as _E. mediterranea_ or _E. arborea_ (Tree Heath). A
hybrid form--_E. mediterranea x E. carnea_--is excellent, and comes into
flower about Christmas, in advance of either of its parents, when its
pale-purple spikes are very welcome, and are quite distinct from the
rosy-red flowers of _E. carnea_: it is known as _E. mediterranea
hybrida_. The foliage of hardy Heaths is never unsightly, but the
persistent dead flowers are, and these should always be clipped off as
soon as their beauty is over, or the new growth will break away above
the withered flowers, leaving, in many cases, straggling and unclothed
branches. The omission of this needful work every season is a fruitful
source of the raggedness which brings some discredit on these otherwise
attractive plants.

Many flowering shrubs of the same natural order 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 (see p. 428 for lists of the
best Rhododendrons). 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. procumbens_, 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,