Aucuba
Though a member of the ericaceae, this genus shows a benign tolerance of alkaline soils. One of the finest specimens of the Strawberry Tree, Arbutu.v unedo, I have ever seen grows in a lime soil, full in the path of a wind from the sea.
Again the long arching canes will reach 7 to 9 ft. and as they are not prone to suckering this bamboo will make a fine specimen plant for a lawn. A. nitida has purple-coloured canes and a rather neater foliage than murielae but is in other respects identical. Of all the bamboos this is the species I like the best.
Arundinaria viridistriata with yellow and green leaves is a most unpredictable species. In the garden near Clitheroe, Lancashire, which provided my plants they grew in open woodland and the canes were 3 ft. high. Each year they were scythed in swathes to encourage young growth which produces the best foliage. I suspect that the garden’s need of bonfire ash was also a reason.
Six years ago I bought some holly and rhododendron to brighten up a bed of bamboo in the autumn, and at the same time I also bought an Aronia arbutifolia. Though only reaching a height of 3 ft. in the first year, by mid-September it looked as if someone had lighted a fire in the border for the leaves coloured scarlet, orange, and yellow.
Phyllostachys aurea, whose shoots are said to be edible, has pale cream canes but rather nondescript foliage. P. nigra grew wonderfully well in the gardens where I worked in Norfolk and Cornwall, possibly because it enjoys sunshine and a fairly dry root run. The canes of nigra horyana are mottled green and black and the shadow patterns cast by the rather dense foliage complete the jungle effect. My first choice, however, would be nigra henonis though this would not include attempting to eat the supposedly edible shoots.
Berberis buxifolia and its slow-growing variety could be utilised as rock garden plants. The dark green leaves are silver underneath and the Bowers which appear in early spring would make a better impression if they were carried clear of the leaves. Berheris darwinii must be one of the loveliest of evergreen flowering shrubs. Usually it makes a bush 8 ft. high and is covered in late April with a mass of rich orange-yellow pompon flowers.
