to Greece.

_Calluna vulgaris._--This has been named Erica (Heath), and may be
appropriately included in this chapter on Heaths. It is the Common Heath
of mountain and moor, is very closely allied to the true Heaths, and has
given rise to many varieties. It likes a peaty or sandy soil, and is
longer-lived and more profuse flowering under cultivation in poor rather
than rich soil. It is very charming when grown in natural masses in the
wilder parts of the garden, and its value is all the greater because it
flowers when almost all other shrubs are out of bloom, viz., from July
to October. Numerous varieties are offered by the trade, amongst which
the following are the most noteworthy, either for their beauty or for
their distinctness: _Alba_ (white), _Alporti_ (crimson), _aurea_ (golden
leaved), _tenuis_ (red), _pygmaea_, and _hypnoides_ (both dwarf).

_Daboecia polifolia_ (St. Dabeoc's Heath) is a lovely little shrub, a
close relative of the Heaths, and found wild in the west of Ireland. It
grows a little over 1 foot high, and bears bell-shaped flowers rather
abundantly on erect terminal spikes. They are purple or white, and
sometimes have both colours in one flower, and the plants continue to
produce them from July or August till the frosts come. It is quite as
plentiful as the dwarf Heaths. _Alba_ is a white variety. _Menziesia
polifolia_ is its former name, and is still found under that title in
books.

The three most suitable Heaths for limestone are _Erica carnea_,
_vagans_, and _mediterranea_.

CHAPTER XXIX

NATIVE AND OTHER HARDY EVERGREENS

Rambling about the country in winter, one becomes more and more
impressed with the beauty of our native evergreen trees and shrubs.
Seven names comprise them all--Yew, Holly, Scotch Fir, Spruce, Juniper,
Box, and Ivy. Even of these the Scotch and Spruce Firs (commonly
so-called, though the Scotch is a Pine) are doubtful natives, though so
long acclimatised that they may be classed with our own. Those who are
laying out new grounds on a large scale would do well to plant these
grand things in plenty; indeed, in the case of any new planting that is
taken in hand, unless the owner has a good knowledge of shrubs and some
taste in their choice and disposition, a planting of these alone would
save him from many a regrettable mistake, and from the prospect of the
usual senseless jumble of mixed shrubbery that has hopelessly spoilt
thousands of gardens.

No foreign sh