It eventually reaches up to 6ft(2m) in height. The leaves are rounded or diamond-shaped and of a velvety dark green. The pale lilac or lilac-pink flowers appear even on young plants from late May into June. This variable species is often planted on rock gardens where it forms a neat, attractive mound until, eventually, its size requires it to be moved or replaced. Most gardens have at least one corner which can be described as sunny or warm. If the soil here is also well-drained or can be made so then a host of excellent flowering shrubs will vie for one's attention. Many of these happen to be dwarf shrubs such as X Halimiocistus wintonensis, which forms lovely low mounds of grey leaves and rewards one with flowers 2in(5cm) across which are pearly-white with a feathered and pencilled zone of crimson-maroon, contrasting with the yellow basal stains. These are produced in succession from May through June. The rock roses Cistus spp. are one of the most rewarding groups of summer-flowering shrubs. Ranging in habit from low mounds to tall, erect shrubs, their single rose-like flowers appear all through summer offerings variety of colours. For planting on rock gardens or in small borders or raised beds there is C. creticus with flowers coloured purple to rose. C. xlusitanim 'Decumbens', flowers white with crimson basal blotches, and c. albidus, flowers pale rose-lilac with a yellow eye, are easy and comparatively hardy, Of the taller-growing kinds C. xcyprius, flowers white with crimson blotches; C. laurifolius, flowers white with yellow centres; Peggy Sammons' and 'Silver Pink', both pink-flowered; and c. xpurpureus, flowers rose-crimson with chocolate basal stains, are among the best. The last-named is less hardy than most but worth all the protection one can provide. In sheltered gardens in the south and west of the British Isles one might try Melianthus major if only for its foliage which is large, deeply lobed and a delightful blue-grey in colour. It is a small, spreading shrub which needs a warm, sunny site and contrasts well with brickwork. Not all shrubs from Mediterranean climates are necessarily impossible in Britain and a visit to any well-known garden worth its salt will reveal at least one Mediterranean-type shrub in happy occupation. Tasmania, for instance has contributed a number of first-rate shrubs for sunny sites in British gardens. One of these j is Grevillea sulphurea, a spreading shrub up to 6ft(2m) tall with long stems densely clothed with needle-like evergreen leaves. For many months during summer and autumn the slender canary-yellow flowers crowd the branches creating a bright and pleasing display. It is not, however, suitable for chalk or limy soils. From the same Australian island comes Ozothamnus ledifolius, another evergreen but this time dense and compact in habit, forming a neat mound up to 3ft(im). Its small, narrow leaves are green with golden reverse and form an unusual backing for the terminal clusters of white flowers, burnt sienna in bud which give off a pleasant honey-like aroma.