20 SEPTEMBER 1946, Page 14

In My Garden The hybridisers have done better work than

is widely appreciated. Most of us grow the evergreen ceanothus, which flowers early, and the deciduous group which flowers late. The two classes have been crossed with excellent results, as in the case of the Buddleia Globosa and Variabilis ; and in each case the hybrids are hardy. Blue or bluish flowers are in general the most popular ; and because of this it is surprising how few people grow the very loveliest of all the blue flowery shrubs, Ceratostigma Willmottiana, It is fairly hardy, though it may be cut down, to spring up again, by very hard frost. It is the surest of all lures for the humming bird hawk-moth. This is written in envy of other people's shrubs, especially in the West of England. W. BEACH THOMAS.