s pattern--which includes evergreen and flowering
shrubs as well as the close-growing alpine plants, gem-like in their
brilliant colours, which in earlier days were alone considered suitable
for the purpose. The principle is now generally recognised that the
"unstudied picturesqueness of Nature may be brought into the rule and
line ordering of our gardens," and the better construction and
government of the Rock Garden gives greater scope for the carrying out
of this worthy effort.

In enumerating suitable shrubs for the Rock Garden, more than ordinary
care should be exercised in their selection, in view of the greater
difficulty of rectifying mistakes in such positions. We must not be led
away by the beauty of a shrub, for instance, during its time of
flowering alone, without considering its character at other seasons and
its adaptability to its special surroundings. A due sense of proportion
will also hold us back from planting a spreading, hungry-natured shrub
in limited space, or where it would rob and over-run more valuable but
weaker plants. Such considerations as these must be left to the planter
who, in his turn, must be guided by the incidental circumstances of his
particular locality. It is only possible here to set down some of the
best shrubs available for the purpose, and to indicate, in a very
general way, the positions for which they are suitable.

Occasionally, where there is ample space, a deciduous tree of low growth
may be planted to great advantage. Not long ago, in a picturesque
district bordering on Western Germany, a mental note was made of the
excellent effect of Wild Medlar trees, scarcely more than good-sized
bushes, growing about the boulders and overhanging the edge of quarried
rocks. The white flowers in spring, and the fine form and tint of the
russet-brown fruit as it gradually swells during the summer months, give
this tree a peculiar claim on our attention where the position is
suitable. But in planning the main features of the Rock Garden, we
naturally turn our thoughts first to evergreen trees and shrubs, because
the plants grown in such positions, being usually either alpine or
herbaceous, are mostly in abeyance during the winter, and it is
desirable that the rockery, no less than every other part of the garden,
should be interesting even if it cannot be gay, during the period of
rest. A specimen Holly or, in exceptionally mild climates, a tall bush,
from 8 to 10 feet high, of _Pittos