[Illustration: _A GROUPING OF HEATHS (Erica mediterranea and vars. alba and hybrida)._]
_E. scoparia._--This species has proved to be the tallest Heath near London, for it has during the last few years grown as high as 9 feet. This gives it a certain distinction, but when regarded as a flower-bearing plant it is, I think, the least worthy of the tribe. The flowers are crowded in the leaf axils in great profusion, but are small and greenish white; the growth of the plant is somewhat straggling and uneven, but it has one merit--viz., it is quite hardy. I have seen its stems split by hard frost on more than one occasion during the last twelve years, but no permanent injury has resulted. It flowers in June, and is a native of the mountainous country to the north of the Mediterranean, especially about Mentone.
The dwarf Heaths can be used quite differently from the more tree-like species that have just been described: as a carpeting beneath sparsely-planted shrubs, for furnishing sloping banks, or for growing on the small terraces of the Rock Garden they are equally useful. And of all these dwarf Heaths more can be said in favour of _E. carnea_ than of any other species. It is not only absolutely hardy, but it flowers with astonishing freedom at a time of year when flowers are particularly cherished. Its flowering, of course, somewhat depends upon the weather, but frequently one may see its bright rosy bells almost as soon as January comes in. By the end of February the entire plant is a mass of beautiful colour, and for two or three months longer they retain their freshness no matter what weather may occur. So free-flowering is this Heath that its flowers literally cover it. _E. carnea_ is one of those plants (and there are many of them) which, although perfectly well known and quite common, are still not used in gardens so freely as they ought to be. The majority of our early-flowering plants bear flowers that are either white or yellow, so that the rosy-red colouring of this Erica makes a welcome change. However freely it might be planted it would never become wearisome or out of place, for its tints, though bright and warm, are not harsh. Statements have been recently published to the effect that _E. carnea_ is a British plant. This idea appears to have originated with Bentham, the botanist, who regarded _E. carnea_ and _E. mediterranea_ as the same species. Following out this idea, he included the plant which has already been alluded to as a form of _E. mediterranea_, which is found in Western Ireland, in his Flora of Britain as a form of _E. carnea_. Possibly he was right from the standpoint of the botanist, but the plant grown in gardens and nurseries as _E. carnea_ is quite distinct from _E. mediterranea_. It is usually not more than 6 to 8 inches high, and is a native of the mountains of Central Europe.
