UNIVERSITY OF B.C. LIBRARY 3 9424 00126 0956 SJCkAGE IJBM P£CCE€SING~0NE Lpi-F19C U.B.C. LIBRARY ^ THE LIBRARY THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2010 witii funding from University of Britisii Columbia Library http://www.archive.org/details/alpineflowersforOOrobi Al.l'iNK IfAiWKks Ai Hume. ALPINE FLOWERS ENGLISH GARDENS. Author of " The Parks and Gardens of Paris,"' " Hardy Piowers " 7Vte Wild Garden," etc. IVITH NUMEROUS ILLUS TKATIOXS. LONDON : JOHN .MURRAY, ALBKMARLE STRP:K 1 1879. Priiite.l l)y Hazell, Watson, and N'iney, London and Aylesbury. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION Part I. CULTURAL AND STRUCTURAL rOSITlON FOR THE ROCK-GARDEN MATERIALS . HIDDEN WEALTH PATHWAYS, ETC. SOIL . WATER DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION CASCADES, ROCKY BRIDGES, ROCKY MARGINS, IS THE ROCK-GARDEN FERNERY ROCKWORK FORMED OF CONCRETE, ETC. MINIATURE ROCK-GARDENS RUIN AND WALL-GARDENS ALPINE FLOWERS IN THE MIXED BORDER ALPINE PLANTS IN SHRUBBERY BORDERS THE NATURAL ROCK-GARDEN ALPINE PLANTS ON WINDOW-SILLS ALPINE PLANTS IN POTS . ALPINE PLANTS FROM SEED PLANTING ..... THE BOG-GARDEN .... A SELECTION OF CHOICE BOG-PLANTS HARDY AQUATIC PL.\NTS . WHAT TO AVOID ON THE GEOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF ROCKWORK 33 38 44 5^ 54 57 59 fs 72 72 77 77 84 90 PLANT-HU>'TING ON THE MOUNTAINS MOUNTAIN VEGETATION IN AMERICA 102 144 CONTENTS. Part II. SELECTION OF THE CHOICEST ALPINE FLOWERS ALPHABETICALLY AR- RANGED, WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CULTURE AND POSITION FOR EACH KIND .....•••• Part III. A SELECTION OF DWARF ALPINE AND ROCK-PLANTS THAT WILL THRIVE IN ORDINARY SOIL IN LEVEL GROUND ...... A SELECTION OF ALPINE AND ROCK-PLANTS WORTHY OF BEING GROWN IN NURSERIES ......... ALPINE AND ROCK-PLANTS WITH WHITE OR WHITISH FLOWERS ALPINE AND ROCK-PLANTS WITH BLUE, BLUISH, OR PURPLE FLOWERS ALPINE AND ROCK-PLANTS WITH ROSY, CRIMSON, SCARLF.T, RED, AND PINKISH FLOWERS ........ ALPINE AND ROCK-PLANTS WITH YELLOW FLOWERS .... A SELECTION OF CHOICE DWARF SHRUBS FOR THE ROCK-GARDEN, ETC. A SELECTION OF ALPINE AND ROCK-PLANTS TO RAISE FROM SPED . A SELECTION OF ALPINE PLANTS, ETC., SUITABLE FOR PLANTING ON THE MARGINS OF BEDS AND MASSES OF RHODODENDRONS AND OTHER AMERICAN SHRUBS ....... A SELECTION OF PLANTS FOR FORMING " CARPETS " . ALPINE PLANTS THAT WILL GROW WELL IN AND NEAR CITIES ALPINE PLANTS GREEN IN WINTER ..... A SELECTION O? ALPINE PLANTS SUITED FOR CULTURE IN POTS FOR EXHIBITION ........ ALPINE AND HERBACEOUS PLANTS SUITABLE AS FLOWERING EDGINGS FOR BEDS OR BORDERS ....... A SELECTION OF ORNAMENTAL AQUATIC PLANTS A SELECTION OF PLANTS THRIVING IN MARSHY OR BOGGY GROUND . TRAILERS, CLIMBERS, ETC. ....... LIST OF FERNS THAT MAY BE GROWN IN THE ROCK-GARDEN . SELECTION OF ALPINE AND ROCK-PLANTS FOR GROWING ON ULU WALLS, RUINS, STONY BANKS, ETC. ...... DWARF HARDY PLANTS OF A SILVERY OR VARIEGATED TONE, AND MOSTLY SUITABLE FOR EDGINGS ...... DWARF SHRUBS SUITED FOR THE ROUGHER PARTS OF ROCK-GARDENS, ETC. LIST OF DWARF ALPINE SHRUBS, ETC., FOR THE ROCK-GARDEN SKLECTIO.N OF ALPINE AND ROCK-PLANTS OF PROSTRATE C)R DROOPING HABIT ...... ... 426 427 428 42S 42Q 430 431 431 433 433 435 435 436 436 437 438 4,;3 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Alpine Plants on a sloping Ridge.. Mountain flank in process of degra- dation Corner of natural Rock covered with Alpine Plants Mound of Earth, with e.xposed points of Rock Unearthed Rocks in a Sussex Garden Alpine Plants on Vertical Rock . . Passage in Rock-garden Rude Stair from deep recess of Rock-garden Right and wrong forms of Rock- work . . Half-buried Stone surrounded by Alpine Plants Well-formed Sloping Ledges Artificial Rock on which Plants do not thrive . . Horizontal Fissure . . Right and wrong forms of Oblique Fissure Do. of Steep Rockwork Do. of Vertical Fissure I. edge of Alpine Flowers .. Alpine Plants growing on level ground Waterfall fringed with Yuccas, etc. Young Plants of Clematis falling over the face of Artificial Rock . . Bird's-eye view of Islands above the Falls of Niagara Stepping-stone Bridge Stepping-stone Bridge, plan of . . Rock-garden near Water . . Margin of Island in Lake Maggiore Rocky Water-margin at Oak Lodge, Kensington. . Entrance to Cave for Killarney Fern Masses of Artificial Rock .. View of Artificial Rock at Oak Lodge Scene in the Gardens at Oak Lodge, .Small rocky bed of Alpine Flowers Rock-garden on margin of Shrub- bery . . Ruined Castle Ruins and Bridge Rock -plants on an old Fort Wall . . Sa.xifraga longifolia . . Pansy on Brick-wall . . Stone Wall covered with Alpines. . Alpines in Level Border Mi.xed Border Mi.xed Border, plan of Alpine Plants on Border A Natural Rock-garden The Window Rock-garden . . Alpines in Pots Bed of Alpines plunged in Sand . . Bed kept saturated by perforated pipes . . Illustration of right and wrong mode of Planting .. Alpine Bog-garden . . White Water Lily Yellow Water Lily . . Great Water Dock . . Fronti.spiece of Book on Alpines . . Arch (after Loudon). . Rockwork in Villa at Hammersmith All the Alps seen from the Hall- door (after Macintosh) . . Fountain and Rockworks (after Loudon) " Infandi scopuli" (after ) Rockwork (after Mrs. Loudon) .. Ground-plan of Rockworks in a London Park Sketch from Kew Sketch from the Botanic Garders, Regent's Park Granite Tor . . Chalk Limestone Old Red Sandstone .. Mica .Schist . . " Excelsior ! " An Alpine Lake In the Woody Region Pine Woods, Glacier, and Alpine Village View of a distant range Chillon . . An Alpine Valley and River-bed . . An Alpine Pathway.. An Alpine Village . . An Alpine Waterfall An Alpine Stream .. " The glassy Ocean of the Moun- tain Ice " . . The Limit of Life Alpine Larch-wood . . Cascade in a High Wood . . Alpine Road through Cliff. . Island in Lake Maggiore .. Scene in the higher Alps The limit of the Pines View on the Siniplon Road A Glacier A glimpse at the Home of the two- flowered Saxifrage Scene in the Rocky Mountains . . Isolated Rocks in Rocky Moun- tains . Mountain Woods of California Isolated Rocks on Plains eastward of the Rocky Mountains . . PAGE 63 64 91 93 95 97 100 ic6 109 114 116 117 118 126 128 129 130 133 13s 136 r4o 143 144 146 vEaxh^ Ir jr t\} t s a m £ ^ k 1 1) xr r , THE GARDEN. Published weekly and in half-yearly volumes. " That excellent periodical, ' The Garden' " — Professor Owen. THE PARKS AND GARDENS OF PARIS. CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO THE WANTS OF OTHER CITIES, AND OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE GARDENS. New and Revised Edition, with many Illustrations. 8vo. i8s. " For a long time we have not read a more interesting and instructive book than lis." — TJic Times. HARDY FLOWERS. "A minute Encyclopaedia." — Saturday Reviciv. THE WILD GARDEN; OR, OUR GROVES AND SHRUBBERIES MADE BEAUTIFUL BY THE NATURALIS.\TION OF HARDY EXOTIC PLANTS. With many Illustrations by Alfred Parsons. THE SUB-TROPICAL GARDEN; OR, BEAUTY OF FORM IN THE FLOWER GARDEN. Second Edition, with Illustrations of all the finer Plants used for this purpose. INTRODUCTION. This book is written to dispel a very general but erroneous idea, that the exquisite flowers of alpine regions cannot be grown in gardens. There are few who have not heard of or beheld the beauty and vividness of colour of alpine flowers ; but such knowledge is usually accompanied by the conviction that these can only be seen upon the high Alps, and that it is impossible to cultivate them in lowland regions. This erroneous idea is not confined to the general public ; it has been propagated by our most famous botanists and horticulturists past and present, whenever they have had to figure or allude to mountain flowers ; while almost every Alpine traveller has lugubriously regretted that we could not enjoy in our gardens these most charming of all flowers. The Duke of Argyll, presiding, two or three years since, at the dinner of the Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Institu- tion, told the company an anecdote about the great interest felt by the Queen in some alpine flowers gathered in a highland excursion, in which he had accompanied her, and he took the opportunity of telling the crowd of assembled horticulturists that, though they had overcome almost every difficulty of cultivation, they were conquered by INTRODUCTIOX. one — that of growing alpine plants. Any reader of this book may satisfy himself that this idea is as unfounded as it is general, and that intelligent cultivation will prove as successful with the plants of the coldest and most ele- vated regions in our open gardens as it has already proved with the choicest plants of steaming tropical forests in hot- houses. So far from its being true that high mountain plants cannot be cultivated, there is no alpine flower that ever cheered the traveller's eye with its brilliancy that can- not be successfully grown in these islands. What are alpine plants? The word alpine is used in an arbitrary sense to denote the vegetation that grows naturally on the most elevated regions of the earth — on all very high mountain-chains, whether they spring from hot tropical plains or green northern pastures. Above the cul- tivated land these flowers begin to occur on the fringes of the stately woods ; they are seen in multitudes in the vast and delightful pastures with which many great mountain- chains are robed, enamelling their soft verdure with innu- merable dyes ; and where neither grass nor loose herbage can exist \ where feeble world-heat is quenched by mightier powers ; where mountains are crumbled into ghastly slopes of shattered rock by the contending forces of heat and cold ; even there, amidst the glaciers, they brilliantly spring from Nature's ruined battle-ground, as if the mother of earth-life had sent up her sweetest and loveliest children to plead with the spirits of destruction. Alpine plants fringe the vast fields of snow and ice of the high hills, and at great elevations have often scarcely time to flower and ripen a few seeds before they are again INTRODUCTION. imbedded in the snow ; while sometimes, if the previous year's snow has been very heavy, and the present year's heat below the average, numbers of them may remain be- neath the surface for more than a year. Enormous areas of the earth, inhabited by alpine plants, are every year covered by a deep bed of snow. Where the tall tree or shrub cannot exist from the intense cold, a deep soft mass of down-like snow settles upon these minute plants, like a great cloud- borne quilt, under which they safely rest, un tortured by the alternations of frost and biting winds with moist and spring-like days. But let it not for a moment be supposed that these conditions are indispensable for their growth ! The reason that they predominate, in these very elevated regions is because no taller vegetation can exist there ; were these places inhabited by trees and shrubs, we should find few alpine plants among them ; on the other hand, were no stronger vegetation found at a lower elevation, these plants would there make their appearance. Many plants found on the high Alps, and popularly beHeved to grow only near or among fields of snow, are also met with in rocky or bare places at much lower elevations. Genti- ana verna, for example, one of the loveliest gems in the Flora of the Alps, often flowers very late in sunmier when the snow thaws on a very high mountain; yet it is also found on comparatively low hills, and occurs in England and Ireland. Numbers of other plants could be men- tioned of which the same is true. In the close struggle for existence upon the plains and low tree-clad hills, the more minute species are often overrun by trees, trailers, INTRODLCTIOX. bushes, and vigorous herbs, but, where in northern and elevated regions these fail from the earth, the choicer jewellery of vegetable-life known as alpine plants prevail. Alpine plants possess the great charm of endless variety. They include subjects from many widely separate divi- sions of the vegetable kingdom, embracing endless diversi- ties of form and colour. Among them are tiny orchids, as interesting as their tropical brethren, though so much smaller ; Lilliputian trees, and even a tree-like moss {Lyco- podiuni dendroideum), that branches and grows into an erect little pyramid, as if in imitation of the mountain- loving Pines, which, in their massy strength, are often tortured and depressed by storms, but rarely submit to be- come miniatures of what they are in lower regions. There are ferns that peep from narrowest crevices of high rocky places, often so diminutive that they seem to cling to the rocks for shelter, not daring to throw forth their fronds with airy grace as they do in more favourable positions. Nume- rous too are alpine bulbous plants, from Lilies to Blue- bells, which appear to have been refined in Nature's laboratory, — all coarseness and ruggedness eliminated, all preciousness and beauty retained. There are evergreen shrubs, perfect in leaf and blossom and fruit, yet so small that an inverted finger-glass would make a roomy conser- vatory for them. There are exquisite creeping plants, rarely venturing much above mother earth, yet trailing and spreading freely along it, and, when they creep over the brows of rocks or stones, draping them with curtains of colour as lovely as any afforded by the most vigorous climbers of tropical forests. There are numberless minute INTRODUCTION. plants that scarcely exceed the mosses in size, and quite surpass them in the way in which they mantle the earth with fresh green carpets in the midst of winter; and "succulent" plants in endless variety, which yield not in beauty to those of America or the Cape, though frequently smaller than the mosses of our bogs : in a word, alpine vegeta- tion embraces nearly every type of the plant-life of northern and temperate climes, chastened in tone and diminished in size, and infinitely more attractive to the human eye than any other known, forming "a veil of strange intermediate being; which breathes, but has no voice ; moves, but cannot leave its appointed place ; passes through life without conscious- ness, to death without bitterness ; wears the beauty of youth without its passion ; and declines to the weakness of age without its regret." With reference to the merits of "alpine" and allied types of gardening, as compared with those commonly in vogue, there can be little doubt in the minds of all who give the subject any thought. On the one hand, we have sweet communion with Nature ; on the other, the process which is commonly called "bedding out" presents to us simply the best possible appliance for depriving vegetation of every grace of form, beauty of colour, and vital interest. The genius of cretinism itself could hardly delight in anything more taste- less or ignoble than the absurd daubs of colour that every summer flare in the neighbourhood of most country-houses in Western Europe. Enter the garden of a rich amateur, who spends a small fortune on his flowers, say in the neigh- bourhood of Liverpool or Lyons. You find orchids from Mexico and the Eastern Archipelago ; the beauties of the INTRODUCTION. Flora of New Holland, as healthy as ever they were in their native homes ; tropical fruits perfect in flavour and size, ferns gathered in many climes, and exotics from all parts of the world ; but mention the name of some long-discovered native of North Europe or Siberia, hardy as Ivy and beautiful as numbers of the most gorgeous exotics, and in all but ex- tremely rare cases the owner will never even have heard of it ! Visit any of our large country gardens, and probably the first thing that will be triumphantly told you is the number of scores of thousands of plants "bedded out" everj' year, though no system ever devised has had a more miserable effect on our gardens. Even our great botanic gardens, which ought beyond all others to teach us the capabilities of the plants of our own climes, do not exhibit anything better than the gaudiness of great masses of flowers of the same colour on the one hand, and the repulsive formality resulting from so-called " scientific " arrangement of plants on the other. Numbers of amateurs who cultivate numerous hot- house plants, and who generally have not a dozen of the equally beautiful flowers of northern and temperate regions in their gardens, might grow an abundance of them at a tithe of the expense required to fill a glass-house with costly Mexican or Indian orchids. Our botanical and great public gardens, in which alpine plants are usually found in frames in obscure corners, or which perhaps contain a few dozen of indifferent kinds on some absurdly-formed rockwork (half hidden under trees and shrubs, or a canvas roller-blind, as if very properly ashamed of itself), might each exi^bit a beautiful alpine-garden, at half the expense and trouble which are now bestowed on some tropical family displayed in an /A TR on U'C riON. enormous glass-house. In a word, there is not a garden of any kind, even in the suburbs of our great cities, in which the flowers of alpine lands may not be grown and enjoyed. And every person who makes himselt a garden of them may be assured that, more than of any kind of garden he has ever seen, he will say ot it, — " A garden is a beautiful book, writ by the finger of God : every flower and every leaf is a letter. You have only to learn them— -and he is a poor dunce that cannot, if he will, do that — to learn them and join them, and then to go on reading and reading. And you will find yourself carried away from the earth by the beautiful story you are going through. You do not know what beautiful thoughts grow out of the ground, and seem to talk to a man. And then there are some flowers that seem to me like overdutiful children : tend them but ever so little, and they come up and flourish, and show, as I may say, their bright and happy faces to you." W. R. London, March i-]t/i, 1S70. ^xthict tor il^t ^ttowh (^hitiovi. Since the publication of the first edition of " Alpine Flowers," the culture of alpine plants has become much more popular in gardens, and, from the large collections which have been brought together in nurseries, they would seem to be growing in favour. More species are now in good health in our gardens than at any former time. The present edition has been considerably altered in the cultural section, and many additional illustrations added, these being for the most part sketched from actual scenes selected by the author. The alphabetical arrange- ment, or second portion, was stereotyped, and remains for the present as it was first published. The third part, in which selections of the species suited for various purposes are given, has been re-written and made more compre- hensive and useful. The acknowledgments of the author are due to Mr. Jas. C. Niven, Curator of the Botanic Gardens at Hull; Mr. Backhouse, of York; Mr. George Maw, of Benthall Hall ; Mr. James Atkins, of Painswick ; the Rev. H. W. Ellacombe, of Bitton ; and to many others, for much useful information as to the species enumerated in the book, and for other kindly help. 24/// March, 1875. ALPINE FLOWERS PART I. CULTURAL AND STRUCTURAL. Ix treating of the culture of alpine plants, the first important consideration is that much dil^erence exists among them as regards constitution and vigour. We have, on the one hand, a number of valuable subjects that merely require to be sown or planted in the roughest way to flourish — the common Arabis and Aubrietia for example ; but, on the other, there are many kinds, like Gentiana verna, and the Primulas of the high Alps, with many of their beautiful companions near the perpetual snows, which we rarely or never see in good health in these islands, or elsewhere, in gardens. It is as to the less vigorous species that advice is chiefly required. Nearly the whole of the misfortunes which these little plants have met with in our gardens are to be attributed to a false conception of what a rockwork ought to be, and of what the true alpine plant requires. These plants live on high mountains ; therefore it is erro- neously thought the}' will do best in our gardens if merely I ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. elevated on such tiny heaps of stones and brick rubbish as we frequently see piled together and dignified by the name of "rockwork." Mountains are often "bare," and cliffs are usually devoid of soil ; but we must not conclude from this that the choice jewellery of plant life scattered over the ribs of the mountain or the interstices of the crag lives upon little more than the mountain air and the melting Alpine Plants growing at the bottom of a sloping ridge. snow. Where will you find such a depth of well-ground stony soil, and withal such perfect drainage, as on the ridges of debris flanking some great glacier, stained all over witli tufts of crimson Saxifrage? Can you gauge the depth of that narrow chink, from which peep tufts of the diminutive and beautiful Androsace helvetica ? No ; for ages and ages it has gathered the crumbling grit and scanty soil, into which the roots enter so far that nothing the tourist carries with him can bring out enough of them to enable the plant to exist elsewhere. And suppose we find plants growing apparently from mere cracks without soil ; if so, the roots simply search farther into the heart of the flaky rock, so that they are safer from any want of moisture than in the best and deepest soil. In 1868 I met on the Alps with plants not more than an inch high, and so firmly rooted in crevices of half-rotten slaty rock that any attempt to take them directly out would have proved futile. But, by carefully knocking and peeling away the sides from some isolated bits of projecting mck, I succeeded in laying the roots quite bare, and found them Part I. CULTURAL AND STRUCTURAL radiating in all directions against a flat rock, some of the largest being more than a yard long. We think it rapacious of the Ash, a towering forest tree, to send its roots under the walls of our gardens and rob the soil therein, and are surprised at finding the roots of a tree more than a hundred feet high descending a fifth or a sixth of that distance into the ground ; but here is an instance of a plant one inch high penetrating into the earth to a distance forty times greater than it ventures into the alpine air ! And there need be no doubt whatever that even smaller plants descend quite as deep, or even deeper, though it is rare to find the texture and position of the rock such as will admit of tracing them. It is true you occasionally find hollows in fields of flat hard rock, into which moss and leaves have gathered for ages, and where, in a sort of basin, without an outlet of any kind in the hard moun- tain, shrubs and plants grow freely enough ; but in excep- tional droughts they are just Mountain flank in process of degradation. as liable to suffer from want of water as they would be in our plains. On level or sloping spots of ground in the Alps the earth is of great depth, and if it be not all earth in the common sense of the word, it is more suitable to the plants than what we commonly understand by that term. Stones of all sizes broken up with the soil, sand, and grit, greatly tend to prevent evaporation; the roots lap round them and follow them deeply down. While in such positions, they never suffer from want of food and moisture, or vicissi- tudes of weather. Stone, it need scarcely be remarked, is a great preventive of evaporation, and shattered stone forms the soil as well as the subsoil of the mountain flanks where the rarest alpine plants abound. It should also be taken into account that the degradation so continually eff'ected by melted snow water and heavy rains in summer, serves to earth up, so to speak, many alpine plants. I have torn up tufts of them showing this in a marked manner, for the remains of many generations of the old plants were 4 ALPINE FLOWERS. Tart I. seen buried and half buried in the soil beneath their descendants. This would, of course, be effected to some extent by the decaying of the plants themselves, but very Trequently gi"it and peat are washed down plentifully among them, and, in cases where these do not come so thickly as to overwhelm them completely, they thrive with unusual luxuriance. Now, if we consider how dry even our English air becomes in summer, and that no positions in our gardens afford such moist and cool rooting-places as those described, the neces- sity of giving to alpine plants a treatment quite different from what has hitherto been in vogue will be fully seen. The only sound principle generally employed is that of elevating the plants above the level of the ground. Natu- rally protected in winter by a dry bed of thick snow, some of them cannot exist on our wet soils in that season, if not raised well above the level. But this principle of elevation should in all cases be accompanied by the more essential one of giving the plants abundant means of rooting deeply into good and perfectly firm soil — sandy, gritty, peaty, or mingled with broken stone, as the case may be. How not to do this is capitally illustrated by persons who stuff a little soil into a chink between the stones in a rockery, and insert some minute alpine plant in that. There is usually a vacuum between the stones and the soil beneath them, and the first dry week sees the death of the plant — that of course not being attributed to the right cause. Precisely the same end would have come of it if the experiment had been tried on some alp bejewelled with Gentians and Primulas ! Every plant of these two brilliant families should have means of rooting a yard or more into a suitable medium. We should not pay so much attention to the stones or rocks as to the earth from which they protrude. There are certainly alpine plants that do not require a deep soil, or what is usually termed soil at all ; but all require a firm roomy medium for the roots. In numbers of gardens an attempt at "rockwork" of some sort has been made; but in nine cases out often, the result is simply ridiculous ; not because it is puny when compared with Nature's work in this way, but because it is generally so arranged that rock-plants cannot exist upon it. Ihe idea of rockwork arose at first from a desire to imitate Part I. CULTURAL AND STRUCTURAL. S those natural croppings out of rocks which in temperate and cold countries are frequently covered with a dwarf but beautiful vegetation. It is strange that the conditions which surround these, and their texture and position, should rarely be taken into account by those who make rockwork in gardens. Numerous places occur in every county in which a sort of sloping stcne or burr wall passes as " rockwork," a dust of soil being shaken in between the stones, and the whole so arranged that, if you do cover it with suitable plants, they perish speedily. In others, made upon a better plan as regards the base, the "rocks"' are all stuck up on their ends, and so close that soil, or room for a plant to root, is out of the question. The best thing that usually happens to a structure of this sort is that its naked- ness gets covered by a Cotoneaster, or some friendly climbing shrub, or some rampant weed, of course to the exclusion of true rock-plants ; but in most cases the attempted rockwork is a standing eyesore. In moist and elevated districts, where frequent rains and showers keep porous stone in a continually humid state, this straight-sided, stone-wall-like rockwork may manage to support a few plants ; but in by far the larger portion of the British Isles it is quite useless, and always ugly. It is not alone because the mountain air is pure and clear and moist that the Gentians and like plants prefer it, but because the elevation is unsuitable to the coarser-growing vegeta- tion ; and the alpines have it all to themselves. Take a healthy patch of Silene acaulis, by which the summits of some of our highest mountains are sheeted over with rosy crimson of various shades, and plant it two thousand feet lower down in suitable soil, keeping it moist enough and free from weeds, and you may grow it to perfection ; but leave it to Nature in the same neighbourhood, and the strong grasses and herbage will soon run through and cover it, excluding the light, and finally and quickly killing the hardy and vigorous but diminutive ]\Ioss Campion. Corner of a ledge of natural rock covered with Alpine Plants. 6 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. Although hundreds of brilliant alpine flowers may be grown without a particle of rock near them, yet the slight elevation given by rockwork is very congenial to numbers of the most valuable kinds. The effect of a tastefully disposed rock-garden is very desirable in garden scenery. It furnishes a home for many pretty native and other interesting plants, which may not safely be put elsewhere ; and therefore it is important that the most essential principle to be borne in mind, when making it, should be generally known. The chief mistake generally made is that of not providing a feeding-place for the roots of the plants that are to embellish the rockwork. On ordinar}' rockwork even the coarsest British weeds cannot find a resting-place, simply because there is no motherly body of soil or matter into which the descending roots can penetrate, and find nourishment sufficient to keep the plant fresh and bright and well in all weathers. It is not only those who make their "rockwork" out of spoilt bricks, cement, and perhaps clinkers, that err in this respect, but the designers of some of the most expensive works in the country. At Chats- worth, for instance, and also to some extent at the Crystal Palace, you see rockwork not oftensive so far as its distant effect in the landscape is concerned ; but, when examined closely, it might well be imagined that rockwork and rock plants were never intended for each other's company, so bare are these large works of their proper and best orna- ments. They are, for the most part, pavements of small stones, huge masses of rock, or imitation rock, formed by laying cement over brickwork, and in none of these cases are they adapted for the cultivation of high mountain plants. It is quite possible to combine the most picturesque effects of which rockwork is capable with all the require- ments for plant-growing ; but, in the case of extensive rockwork-making for the sake of its picturesque effect, the owner must either call to his aid a landscape gardener of some skill in this way, or possess much taste and knowledge of the work himself. It is easy to use the largest stones and make the boldest prominences, and leave at the same time rather level intervening spaces of rocky ground in which rock-plants may luxuriate. Part I. THE POSITION— MATERIALS. 7 POSITION FOR THE ROCK-GARDEN. The position selected for the rock-garden should never be near walls ; never very near a house ; never, if possible, within view of formal surroundings of any kind. It should generally be in an open situation ; and of course a diversi- tied spot, or one with bold prominences, should be selected, if available. No eftbrts should be spared to make all the surroundings, and every point visible from the rockwork, as graceful, quiet, and natural as they can be made. The part of the gardens around the rockwork should be pic- turesque, and, in any case, display a careless wildness resulting from the naturalization of beautiful hardy herba- ceous plants, and the absence of formal walks, beds, etc. No tree should occur in or verj' near the rock-garden ; hence a site should not be selected where it would be necessary to remove valuable or favourite specimens. The roots of trees would be almost sure to find their way into the masses of good soil provided for the choicer alpines, and thoroughly exhaust them. Besides, as the choicest alpine flowers are usually found on treeless and even bush- less wastes, it is certainly wrong to place them under trees or in shaded positions, as has generally hitherto been their fate. It need hardly be added that it is an unwise practice to plant pines on rockwork, as has been lately done in Hyde Park and many other places. In large rock-gardens rhododendrons may be planted, if desired, without letting them occupy the surface suitable for alpine vegetation. It will, however, generally be in good taste to have some graceful, tapering young pines planted near, as this type of vegetation is usually to be seen on mountains, apart alto- gether from their great beauty and the aid which they so well afford in making the surroundings of the rock-garden what they ought to be. In small places, and in those where from unavoidable circumstances the rock-garden is made near a group of trees, the roots of which might rob it, it would be found a good plan to cut them off by a narrow drain, descending as deep as, or somewhat deeper than, the roots of the trees ; this should be filled with rough concrete, and it will form an effectual barrier. MATERIALS. As regards the kinds of stone to be used, if one could 8 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. choose, sandstone or millstone grit -would perhaps be the best ; but it is seldom that a choice can be made, and happily almost any kind of stone will do, from Kentish rag to limestone ; soft, slaty, and other kinds liable to crumble away, should be avoided, as also should magnesian lime- stone. It can hardly be necessary to add that the stone of the neighbourhood, if not very unsuitable, should be adopted for economy's sake, if for no other reason. AVherever the natural rock crops out, it is sheer waste to create artificial rockwork instead of embellishing that which naturally occurs. In the Central Park at New York there are scores of noble and picturesque breaks of rock, which have not been adorned with a single alpine flower or rock bush. Something of the same kind might be said of many of our country seats. In many cases of this kind nothing would have to be done but to clear the ground, and add here and there a few loads of suitable soil, with broken stones, etc., to prevent evaporation ; the natural crevices and crests being planted where possible. Cliffs or banks of chalk, as well as all kinds of rock, should be taken advantage of in this way ; many plants, like the dwarf Campanulas, Rock Roses, etc., thrive vigorously in such places. No burrs, clinkers, vitrified matter, portions of old arches and pillars, broken-nosed statues, etc., should ever obtain a place in a garden devoted to alpine flowers. Stumps and pieces of old trees are quite as objectionable as any of the foregoing materials ; they are only fitted to form supports for rough climbers, and it is rarely worth while incurring any expense in removing or arranging them. Begin without attempting too much. Let your earliest attempts at "the first great evidences of mountain beauty" be confined to a few square yards of earth, with no protuberance more than a yard or so high. Be satisfied that you succeed per- fectly with that before you try anything more ambitious. Never let any part of the rock-garden appear as if it had been shot out of a cart. The rocks should all have their bases buried in the ground, and the seams should not be visible ; whenever a vertical or oblique seam of any kind occurs, it should be crammed with earth, and the plants put in this will quickly hide the seams. Horizontal fis.:ures should be avoided as much as possible ; they are only likely to occur in vertical faces of rock, and these should be Part I. HIDDEN WEALTH. avoided except where distant eftect is sought. No vacuum should exist beneath the surface of the soil or surface-stones. l1ie^/t'/';7///j-, etc., should be so disposed that a vacuum cannot exist. Myriads of alpine plants have been destroyed from want of observing this precaution, the open crevices and loose texture of the soil permitting the dry air to destroy them in a very short time. Mound of earth, with exposed points of rock. In all cases where elevations ot any kind are to be formed, the true way is to obtain them by means of a mass of soil suitable to the plants, putting a rock in here and there as the work proceeds ; frequently it would be desirableto make these mounds of earth without any strata or "crags." The wrong and the usual way is to get the desired elevation by piling up arid masses of rock. HIDDEN WEALTH. While many go to great expense in embellishing their grounds with huge masses of artificial rock, made of old bricks and cement, and while many more are satisfied with the old bricks themselves, accompanied by clinkers and a great variety of offensive rubbish, very few trouble them- selves about the rock treasures that often lay beneath the sod. Considering the large sums that are spent in sham rocks, etc., and the vast superiority in every way of natural rock, masses of it are most valuable to those who care for the picturesque in garden or park scenery. The illustration on the next page gives a feeble notion of one of the rocks that a friend of mine has succeeded in unearthing. The place originally was somewhat liberally embellished with rock on the surface ; but the owner was anxious for more ; in fact, he is like those " boys " out West who hunt for gold mines for years at a time. What tool he does his "pros- pecting " with, we are not certain ; but by some means he ascertained the presence of ten feet of sand by the side of one huge mass of treasure. Then, by digging out the earth, ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. he has formed a beautiful gorge between two flanks of rock that would reduce the cement-rock artist to despair ; and Unearthed Rocks in a Sussex Garden. by clearing away the earth from the flanks of that nose of rock that just projects above a grassy knoll, he has discovered beautiful wrinkles, crevices, and other charms in it. Thus by a little persevering searching and digging has been produced a scene as striking and interesting as many in an alpine country, and one which offers such a variety of aspects and positions that every kind of hardy plant may be grown on it in the best manner, and arranged on it with the hapjjiest effect. This subject is of the highest importance to the many who have ground on a rocky base, and who would be glad if this most precious stonework were brought to light. PATHWAYS, ETC. No formal walk — that is to say, no walk with regularly- trimmed edges of any kind — should ever be allowed to pass through, or even come near, the rock-garden. This need not prevent the presence of properly-made walks through or near it, as, by allowing the edges of the walk to be a little Tart I. FA TB WAYS, ETC. irregular and stony, and by permitting dwarf Sedurns, Saxifrages, Linaria alpina, the lawn Pearl-wort, etc., to crawl Vertical face of rock covered with narrow-ieaved Is'y, and with various Alpine Plants in the chinks. {From a Photograph.) into the walk at will, a perfectly unobjectionable effect will be produced. In every case where gravel walks pass through ferneries or rockeries, and are fringed by stonework, a variety of little plants should be placed at the sides, and allowed to crawl into the walk in their own wild way. There is no surface whatever of this kind that may not be thus embellished with interesting subjects. Violets and ferns, Myosotis dissitiflora, etc., will answer for the moister and shadier parts, and the Stonecrops, Saxifrages, Arenarias, and many others, will thrive in more arid parts and in the full sun. The whole of the surface of the alpine garden should be covered with plants, except the projecting points or crags; and even these should be covered, as far as possible, without completely concealing them. In moist districts, such alpines as Erinus alpinus and Arenaria balearica will grow wherever there is a resting-place for a seed on the face of the rocks ; and even tall and vertical faces of rock may be embellished with a variety of plants ; so that there is no reason whatever why any level surfaces of ground should be bare. ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. Pasb^^e ... R„..k-garden. CONSTRUCTION. In no case should regular steps be permitted in or near the rock-garden. Steps may be made quite irregular, and not only not offensive to the eye, but very beautiful, with violets and other small plants jutting from every crevice. No cement should be used in connection with the steps. The figure on the opposite page is from a photograph of the lower part of rude steps ascending abruptly from a deep and moist recess in a rock garden. It shows very imperfectly — no engraving could show it otherwise — the crowds of lovely plants that gather over it, except where worn bare by feet, thriving year by year as freely as they do on the most favoured spots in the Alps. In cases where the simplest type of rockwork only is attempted, and where there are no steps or rude walks in the rock-garden, the very fringes of the gravel walks may be gracefully enlivened by allowing such plants as the dwarfer Sedums to become established in them. The alpine Linaria is never more beautiful than when self-sown in a gravel walk. Rockwork which is so made that its miniature cliffs, etc., OACihang, is useless for alpine vegetation ; and all but such wall-loving subjects Part I. SOIL. 13 as Corydalis lutea quickly perish on it. The tendency to make it with overhanging peaks is everywhere seen in the cement rock-gardens now becoming rather common. Into the alpine garden this species of construction should never be admitted, except to get the effect of bold and distant cliffs, where this is desired and cannot be obtained in a more natural manner. When this system is admitted, the designer should be requested to obtain his picturesque effect otherwise than by making all his cliffs and precipices over- hang. It is erroneous to suppose that heaps of stones or small rocks are absolutely necessary for the health of alpine plants. The great majority will thrive without their aid if the soil be suitable ; and though all are benefited by them, if properly used as elsewhere described, it is important that it should be generally known how needless is the common system of inserting mountain plants among loose stones, burrs, etc. Half-burying rocks or stones in the earth round a rare species, which it is intended to save from excessive evaporation, and which has a deep body of soil to root into, is, however, quite a different and an excellent practice. Rude stair from deep retcbb of Koi.k „ ii ci ii o 3<-d over with Alpine Flowers. SOIL. The great majority of alpine plants thrive best in deep soil. In it they can root deeply, and when once they are so rooted 14 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. they will not sufter from drought, from which they would quickly perish if planted in the usual way. Three feet deep is not too much for most species, and it is in nearly all cases a good plan to have plenty of broken sandstone or grit mixed with the soil. Any good free loam, with plenty of sand, broken grit, etc., will be found to suit the great majority of alpine and dwarf herbaceous plants, from Pinks to Grom- wells. But peat is required by some, as, for example, various small and brilliant rock-plants like the Menziesias, Trillium, Cypripedium, Spigelia marilandica, and a number of other mountain and bog plants. Hence, though the general mass may be of the soil above described, it will be desirable to have a few masses of peat here and there. This is better than forming all the ground of good loam and then digging holes m it for the reception of small masses of peat. The soil of one or more portions might also be chalky or calcareous, for the sake of plants that are known to thrive best on such formations, as the pretty Polygala calcarea, the Bee Orchis, Rhododendron Chamjecistus, etc. Any other varieties of soil specially required by individual kinds can be given as they are planted. In the second part of this book the soil suitable for each plant there described is mentioned in its proper place. WATER. It is not well to endeavour to associate a small lakelet or pond with the rock-garden, as is frequently done. I do not remember to have met in alpine countries with any crowds of brilliant alpine flowers in the vicinity of small pools of grimy water; indeed, they usually crowd on fields high above the lake. If a picturesquely-arranged piece of water can be seen from the rock-garden, well and good; but water should not, as a rule, be closely associated with it. Hence, in places of limited extent it should not be thought of at all. If a pure rushing streamlet, with one or more cascades, can be introduced near the rock-garden with good effect, so much the better ; but these things are better treated as incidental features. Where a large rock-garden is being made, and where expense is no object, water should, if possible, be '' laid on,'' as, without command of a strong pressure and a liberal hose, it is very difficult to water an extensive elevated rock-garden Part I. DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION. thoroughly, and very troublesome and expensive even to do it badly with watering-pots, etc. Several taps or outlets will be required in large rock-gardens. We will now enter into particulars as to the various ways in which alpine plants may be grown, beginning with the best type of rock-garden — that in which (in addition to the low-lying, stony, and rocky banks and slopes, where num- bers of hardy and vigorous species may be grown) there are Ru'ht. miniature peaks, cliffs, and ravines, with perhaps bog and water. The most usual and deplorable of the faults i-n making rockwork is that of so arranging the stones that they Wrong. seem to have as little connection with the soil of the spot as if thrown out of a cart — indeed less so. Instead of allow- i6 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. ing what may be termed the foundations, or apparent foundations, of the rock-garden to barely show their upper ridges above the earth, and thereby suggesting much more endurable ideas of " rock " than those arising from the contemplation of the bold and unnatural-looking masses usually seen, the stones are often placed on the ground with much the same idea that animates a bricklayer in setting bricks. The two cuts on page 15 will explain exactly what we mean ; both are accurately engraved from photo- graphs, both represent small portions of artificial rockwork — the ugliest of the two was much the most diflficult and expensive to make. One well-selected stone allowed to peep from some gently rising isolated mound or open sunny spot, and arranged as shown in the accompanying little cut, would produce a better effect than several tons placed as in the lower figure on preceding page. W^^^'"'" Half-buried Stone surrounded by Alpine Plants. The surface of every part of the rock-garden should be so arranged that all rain will be directly absorbed by it ; here, again, the objection to precipitous and overhanging faces holds good. If the elevations are obtained, as they should be, by gradually receding, irregular steps, rather than by abrupt crags, walls, etc., all the plants on the surface will be equally refreshed by rains. The illustrations on the next page will serve to show what is right and what is wrong in this respect. The upper surfaces of crags, mounds, etc., should in all cases be of earth, broken stones, grit, etc., as indeed should every spot where projecting stones or rock are not required fur the sake of effect. All the soil-surfaces of the rock-garden should be protected from excessive evaporation by finely broken stones, pebbles, or grit scattered on the surface, or by means of small pieces of broken sandstone or millstone half buried in the ground. If we merely want a certain surface of rock disposed in a picturesque way, such details as these may not be worthy of Part I. DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION. 17 attention, but if we wish our rock-gardens to be faithful miniatures of those wild ones which are admitted to be the Well-formed Sloping Led^ Artificial Rock on which plants do not thrive. most exquisite of nature's gardens, then they are of mucli importance. In dealing with the construction of the bolder masses of rockwork, we cannot have a better guide than Mr. James Backhouse, of York, to whom we are ^ indebted for the following remarks : — " Comparatively i^s^ alpines prefer or succeed well in horizontal fissures. Those, however, which, like Lychnis Viscaria and Silene acaulis, form long tap roots, thrive well in such fissures, provided the earth in the fissure is continuous, and leads backward to a sufficient body of soil. Where the horizontal fissures are very narrow, owing to the main rocks being in con- tact in places, and leaving only irregular and interrupted fissures, such plants as the charming Lychnis Lagascae, Lychnis pyrenaica, and others, bearing and preferring hot sunny exposures, do well. But many plants that would bear Lychnis and Silene in fissures. iS ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. the heat and drought, // they could get their roots far enough back, would quickly die if placed in such fissures, from the want of soil and moisture near the front ; therefore V ; it is usually better, in building ■"' rockw^ork with these fissures, to keep the main rocks slightly ( ,. apart by means of pieces of Horizontal Fissure. Very hard stonc (basalt, close- grained 'flag,' etc.). so as to leave room for a good intermediate layer of rich loam, stones, or grit, mingled with a little peat. The front view of such a structure would be as above — the dark spaces being firmly filled with the appropriate mixture of soil before the upper course of large rocks is placed. As a rule, oblique and vertical fissures are both preferable to horizontal ones ; but care should be taken with oblique fissures that the upper rock does not overhang. A plant Wrong. Right. placed at j will often die, when the same placed at H will live, because the rain falling on the sloping face of rock at i will drop off at j, and miss the fissure j altogether, while that falling on the sloping face of rock at k will all run into the fissure h. There are, however, some plants, like the rare Nothochlsena Marantse and Androsace lanuginosa, which so much prefer positions dry in winter that a fissure like J would suit them better than one like H. Such, how- ever, are rare exceptions to a general rule. The best and worst general forms of steep rockwork we have tried are those indicated in the following figures. By making each rock slightly recede from the one below it, the rain runs consecutively into every fissure. Where the main fissures reverse this order, almost everything dies or lan- guishes. Care should be taken to have the top made of mixed earth and stones — not of rock, unless use i.s inten- tionally sacrificed to scenic effect. Part I. DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION. 19 Vertical fissures (which suit many rare alpines best of all) should always, so far as possible, be made narrower at Right. Wrong. the bottom than at the top. If otherwise, the intervening earth, etc., leaves the sides of the rock as it ' settles,' instead of becoming tighter. In figure a, as the total mass of soil sinks, it becomes compressed against the sides of the rock ; while in e, the soil leaves the sides of the fissures more and more as the mass sinks, and almost invariably fornis distinct ' cracks ' (separations between the soil and rock) sooner or later. The same principle applies to small stones and fissures. To prevent undue evaporation in the case of such fissures, stones, larger or smaller, may be laid on the top of the soil, care being taken not to cover too much of it, to the exclusion of rain. (A) Right. (B) Wrong. (C) A properly formed large vertical fissure. Where a large fissure exists, the smaller pieces of stone /;/ it are on this account best placed with the narrowest edge or point upwards (fig. c) — not downwards. It will 20 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. easily be seen that the tendency of the mixed soil, both as a whole and in each of its subdivided parts, is to become more and more compressed by its own weight and by the action of rain." In the construction and planting of every kind of rock- work, it should be distinctly remembered that every surface may and should be embellished with beautiful plants. Not alone on rocks or slopes, or favourable ledges, or chinks, or miniature valleys, should we see this kind of exquisite plant- life. Numbers of rare mountain species will thrive on the less trodden parts of footways; others, like the two-flowered Violet, seem to thrive best of all in the fissures between the rude steps of the rockwork ; many dwarf succulents delight in gravel and the hardest soil, and numerous other plants will run wild in any wood or among low shrubs near the rock-garden. Another very important principle to bear in mind in forming the rock-garden is, that, as a rule, much more vege- tation than rocks should be seen. Where vast regions are inhabited by alpine plants, acres of crags with a stain of flower or fern here and there, are very attractive and im- posing parts of the picturs ; but in gardens, where our creations in this way can only be Lilliputian, an entirely difterent method must be pursued ; except in places where great cliffs are naturally exposed ; and even in this case an abundant drapery of vegetation is desirable. A rockwork is rarely seen in which plants predominate as much as they ought. Frequently masses of stone, with an occasional tuft of vegetation, are met with under this name, every chink and joint between the stones being quite exposed. This should not be so ; every minute chink should have its little line of verdure ; and in this way we should not only have more plants, but hide the artificial nature of the structure. Where the ground is low and bank-like, there really is not the slightest necessity for placing stones all over the surface ; an occasional one cropping up here and there from the mass of vegetation will produce the best efiect. Alpine flowers are often seen in multitudes and in their loveliest aspect in some little elevated level spot, frequently without rocks being visible through it, and when they do occur merely peeping up here and there. They are lovely too in the desolate wastes of broken rock, where they cower down between the great Part I. DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION. Stones in isolated, lonely-looking tufts ; but it is only when Gentians and silvery Cudweeds, and minute white Butter- cups, and strange large Violets, and Harebells that waste all their strength in flowers, and fairy Daffodils that droop their heads as gracefully as Snowdrops, are seen forming a Ledge of Alpine Flowers (a Garden Sketch). dense turf of living enamelled work, that alpine flowers are seen in all their beauty. Fortunately the flowery turf and stony mound are much more possible to us than the bare moraine blocks or arid cliffs. In cultivating the very rarest and most minute alpine plants, the stony, or partially stony, surface is to be preferred. In their case we cannot allow the struggle for life to have its own relentless way, or we should often have to grieve at finding the Eritrichium from the high Alps of Europe over- run and exterminated by a dwarf American Phlox, and similar cases. Perfect exposure is also necessary to complete success with very minute plants, and the stones are very useful in preventing excessive evaporation from their roots. Few people have any conception of the great number of alpine plants that may be grown on the fully exposed level ground as readily as the common Chamomile ; but there are, on the other hand, not a {q\v that require some care to establish 22 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. them, and there are usually new kinds to be added to the collection, which, even if vigorous ones, should be kept apart and under favourable conditions. Therefore, in everyplace where the culture of alpine plants is entered into with zest, there ought to be a select spot on which to grow the most Alpine Plants growing on the level ground. delicate, most rare, and most diminutive kinds. It should be fully exposed, and while sufficiently elevated to secure perfect drainage and all the effect desirable, should not be riven into miniature peaks or crags or cliffs. The greatest watchfulness should be exercised over the plants on all such structures as this. They will not perish from cold or heat or wet, if properly planted, but many of them are so minute that they are not capable of affording a full meal to a browsing slug, and accordingly often disap- pear during a moist night. Now, as our gardens abound with slimy creatures that play havoc with many subjects colossal compared with our alpine friends, it is clear that one of the main points is to guard against slugs and snails, and as far as possible against worms. Mr. Backhouse has very cleverly fenced off the choicest parts of his rockwork from them by a very irregular little canal, so arranged and cemented that, while not an eyesore, it is perfectly water- tight, and no slug can cross it. It thus becomes a much easier task to guard the plants from these enemies than when they are allowed to crawl in from all points of the compass. But even with this precaution, it is necessary to search con- tinually for snails and slugs ; and in wet weather the choicest plants should be examined in the evening, or very early in the morning ; with a lantern, if at night. Sir Charles Isham, who is an enthusiastic cultivator of rock-plants, says that he not only protects toads, but does not forget to lay stones so as to form little retreats for them underneath. They prefer a stone just sufficiently raised to crawl under, and do a deal of good by destroying slugs, etc. He also protects frogs Part I. CASCADES, ROCKY BRIDGES, ETC. 23 and all carnivorous insects. Ceaseless hand-picking, how- ever, is the best remedy for slugs, and where this is not done, there is little hope of succeeding with many subjects, at least where slugs are as abundant as we usually find them in gardens. CASCADES, ROCKY BRIDGES, ROCKY MARGINS, ISLETS. As water is often introduced in connection with rockwork, and high cascades may be frequently attempted, and as the supply often flows from a woody knoll, it is well to take Waterfall fringed with Yuccas, dwarf Pines, climbing and trailing plants. advantage of this position for the arrangement of Yuccas, large grasses, herbaceous plants of noble port, and the like, that cannot vvell be arranged among the dwarf inhabitants of the rock-garden proper. Among the many plants suited for this position, the new Clematises raised by Jackman and others are the most magnificent. Planted high up on the rocks in a deep bed or vein of rich light soil, they will fall over the faces of the sunny crags, robing them as with imperial purple. In connection with this subject, it may not be out of place 24 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. here to give a short description of Niagara, which is not only grand, as everybody knows, but also beautiful as a gigantic rock-garden. In fact, the noblest of Nature's gar- dens I have yet seen is that of the surroundings and neigh- bourhood of the Falls of Niagara ; and very suggestive it is to those interested in forming artificial or improving natural cascades and the like. Grand as are the colossal falls, the rapids and the course of the river for a considerable distance above and below possess more interest and beauty. Young Plants of Clematis falling over the face of Artificial Rock. As the river courses far below the falls, confined between vast walls of rock — the clear water of a peculiar light-greenish hue, and white here and there with circlets of yet unsoothed foam — the effect is startlingly beautiful quite apart from the falls. The high cliffs are crested with woods ; the ruins of the great rock-walls, forming wide irregular banks between them and the water, are also beautifully clothed with wood to the river's edge, often so far below that you sometimes look from the upper brink down on the top of tall pines that seem diminished in size. The wild vines scramble among the trees ; many shrubs and flowers seam the high rocks ; in moist spots here and there a sharp eye may detect many flowered tufts of the beautiful fringed Gentian, strange to European eyes, and beyond all, and at the upper end of the wood-embowered deep river-bed, a portion of the crovvning glory of the scene — the falls — a vast cliff of illuminated foam, Part I. CASCADES, ROCKY BRIDGES, ETC. 25 with a zone towards its upper edge as of green molten glass. Above the falls the scene is quite different, a wide and peaceful river carrying the surplus waters of an inland sea, till it gradually finds itself in the coils of the rapids, and is soon lashed into such a turmoil as we might expect if a dozen unpolluted Shannons or Seines were running a race together. A river no more, but a sea unreined. By walking about a mile above the falls on the Canadian shore this effect is finely seen, the breadth of the river helping to carry out the illusion. As the great waste of waters descends from its dark grey and smooth bed and falls whitening into foam, it seems as if tide after tide were gale-heaped one on --•i"-"":-;;:-"-^; Bird's-eye view of Islands above tlic Falls of Niagara. another on a sea strand. The islands just above the falls enable one to stand in the midst of these rapids where they rush by lashed into passionate haste ; now boiling over some hidden swellings in the rocky bed, or dashing over greater but yet hidden obstructions with such force that the crest of the uplifted mass is dashed about as freely as a white charger's mane ; now darkly falling into a cavity several yards below the level of the surrounding water, and, when unobstructed, surging by in countless eddies to the mist- crested falls below, and so rapidly that the drift-wood dashes on swift as swallow on the Aving. Undisturbed in their peace- ful shadiness, garlanded with wild vine and wild flowers, the 26 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. islands stand in the midst of all this fierce commotion of waters — below, the vast ever-mining falls ; above, a com- plication of torrents that seem fitted to wear away iron shores, yet there they stand, safe as if the spirit of beauty had in mercy exempted them from decay. Several islets are so small that it is really remarkable how they support vegetation ; one looking no bigger than a washing-tub, not only holds its own in the very thick of the currents just above the falls, but actually bears a small forest, including one stricken and half cast-down pine. It looks a home for (iuUiver in Brobdingnagian scenery. Most fortunate is it that these beautifully verdant islands and islets occur just above the falls, adding immeasurably to the effect of the scene. ^Magnificent it would have been without them, but their presence makes Nature seem as fair as terrible in her strength. Where water occurs near the rock-garden, one or more little bridges are not unfrequently seen; but some such arrangement as that suggested in the accompanying woodcut ^\\i 1 1 Stepping-stone Bridge, with Water Lilies and other Aquatic Plants. would be more satisfactory and tasteful. It is, however, introduced here chiefly for the purpose of showing how well it enables one to enjoy various beautiful aquatic plants, from the fringed and crimson-tipped Bog-bean and graceful Carex peiidula at the sides to the golden Villarsia and Water Lilies sailing among the stones. Arranged thus, a number of interesting plants not usually met with seem to crowd around for acquaintanceship. This mode of garden bridge- making, while infinitel}' more beautiful than the ordinary Part I. CASCADES, ROCKY BRIDGES, ETC. 27 one, is less expensive. Care is, however, required to ar- range it so that it may satisfy the eye, ofter free passage to the v>\ater, and an easy means of crossing it at all times. J'!. Ill uf preceding figure. Rockworks made on the margin of artificial water are very often objectionable —rigid, abrupt, unworn, and absurdly Rock-garden near water, suited for bold and luxuriant types of vegetation. unnatural. In no position is an awkwardness more likely to be detected ; in none should more care be taken not to offend good taste. Charming effects may be produced on properly made rockwork near water, by planting it with a combination of choice moisture-loving rock-plants — Yuccas, Pampas Grass, and hke subjects ; but even the grace and beauty of the finest of these will not relieve the hideousness of the masses of brick -rubbish and stone that are frequently placed by the margins of water. The next figure, showing the fringe of a little island in one of the lakes of Northern Italy, may serve to show how 28 ALPLVE FLOWERS. Part I. irregularly and prettily the waves carve the rocky shore. Frequently in such places diminutive islands from a few feet to a few vards across are seen, and, when tufted with Globe- A glimpse at margin of Island in Lake Maggiore. flowers. Ivy, Brambles, etc., are very charming. A (e\v well-formed artificial islets may be introduced with good effect near a rocky margin. Rocky Watcr-ni.irj;iH .u O.ii^ i.unyc, ivtriisington. THE ROCK-GARDEN FERNERY. It is the fashion to make the hardy fernery in some obscure and sunless spot, in which it would be impossible to grow alpine plants, but there is no reason whatever why it should not be made in more open positions, and in connection with the rock-garden. No plants adhere more firmly to hard vertical surfaces, or better sustain themselves in perfect health without any soil, than ferns. In a wild state you find the Maidenhair Fern and many other species so rooted into mere little fissures in the hardest rocks that no eftbrt can get out a particle of root. Some of our own small Part I. THE ROCK-GARDEN FERNERY. 29 British wild ferns are found on the face of dry brick walls when they are not to be found growing spontaneously on the ground, in the same neighbourhood. The general idea is that ferns want shade, humidity, and sandy vegetat^le earth ; but, though these suit a great number of ferns, others luxuriate under conditions the very opposite. M. C. Naudin, of the Institute, now settled down to carry out his experiments on the shores of the ]\Iediterranean, informs me that the pretty little sweet- scented fern Chcilanthes odoj'a is never found, even in that warm and sunny region, except on the south side of bare rocks and walls, where it is exposed to the full rays of the sun. It is sought for in vain on northern exposures, is rarely found to the east and west, and, when found there, is badly developed. Walls facing due south are covered with this little gem among ferns, and not a vestige of the species occurs on the opposite side. In the middle of winter it is in full vigour, by the end of spring the fronds begin to dry, and through the torrid summer, when the stones of the walls are burning hot, its roots, fixed between the hot stones, are the only parts with life. In humid valleys and recesses it is not found. Other ferns manifest analogous tendencies. This is merely by way of proof that some of the choicest ferns may not only be grown well in the most sunny and arid positions, but better on them than elsewhere. I am informed by Mr. Atkins, of Painswick, who was the first to bring the charming little Nothochlcena Marantce alive into this country, that he has had it in perfect health on a sunny rock for the last fourteen years, and without the least protection. It is reasonable to assume that many ferns, which in a wild state are found in half-shady spots, would, in our colder clime, flourish best if permitted to enjoy all the sun of our cloudy skies, while ferns that inhabit sunny rocks in countries not much warmer than our own should always have the warmest positions Ave can give them on the rockwork. And in the case of the species that require shade, it is quite possible to grow them in recesses in the rock-garden and in deep passages or minia- ture ravines leading through it, even if a portion be not specially designed as a fernery. Some small species and varieties may be used in any aspect as a graceful setting ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. to flowering plants. The general subject of hardy fern culture is so well understood that there is no necessity for adverting to it here. Among the select lists, that of the ferns that thrive best in open exposed places may meet the wants of some, but where the fernery is specially designed as a part of the rock-garden, there is no necessity for any selection, as all hardy kinds may then be grown. Even the rare Killarney fern, usually kept in houses, may be grown successfully in a cave in the rock-garden. The Entrance to Cave for Killarney Fern. illustration shows the entrance to Mr. Backhouse's cave for growing this plant. It is in a deep recess, perfectly sheltered and surrounded by high rocks and banks clothed with vegetation. Here in the darkness grows the Killarney fern, tufts of Hartstongue guarding the entrance. It is very likely that various kinds of New Zealand Trichomanes and Filmy ferns will prove as hardy as the Killarney fern, and, if so, this is likely to be one of the most attractive and interesting of all phases of out-door gardening. Part I. ROCKWORK FORMED OF CONCRETE, ETC. 31 ROCKWORK FORMED OF CONCRETE, CEMENT, ETC. In connection with alpine gardens, the masses of rockwork occasionally made of brick-rubbish, concrete, and cement, demand some notice. There can be no doubt that as picturesque effects may be produced in this way as in any other, aind that this variety of artificial rockwork may be admirably associated with shrubs and trees, and vigorous climbing and trailing plants, but it is utterly unsuitable for true alpine vegetation. When properly constructed, care is taken to make the interior of the cemented masses with deep beds of earth, leaving holes here and there in the face of the structure from which plants can peep forth, while the top is left open, and may be planted with shrubs or trees. The new hybrid Clematises, with their noble flowers, will, if planted in these rich cases of earth and allowed to fall over the faces of the rocks, make an unrivalled display, and the position is also most suitable of all kinds of climbers, trailers, and shrubs ; but the stony mound, free in every pore, or the rockwork constructed of separate pieces of stone, is infinitely the best Masses of Artificial Re for the small flora of the rocks. I have never seen on the large masses of cemented rock half the amount of beauty afforded in a few weeks after planting by the " alpine " bed shown further on. The plants that thrive luxuriantly on walls and old ruins, and send their roots far into the crevices 32 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. of such, cannot obtain the slightest footing on these large masses coated with cement ; and Httle plants stuck in the "pockets" which the constructors leave here and there on the face of the edifice rarely thrive or look happy. They should never be placed in such positions, and the rockwork made of natural stone should be preferred at almost any sacrifice. ^^' here, however, natural stone cannot be obtained, the cemented work may be used with an excellent result to form the "peaks "and "clifts" of the rock-garden, in the construction of cascades, etc., and in positions where only the distant and picturesque effect of rocks in garden scenery is sought. In places where it already exists, much improvement may be eftected by the creation of patches of true alpine garden in open spots near the cemented rocks, covering the last gracefully with low shrubs and hardy shrubby climbers. View of Artificial Rock at Oak Lodge. The most successful of these cemented structures (as regards arrangement) that I have seen is the rockwork at Oak Lodge, Addison Road, Kensington ; from which the next two illustrations, as well as that on page 28, have been sketched. The grounds here were laid out by Mr. Marnock, part of whose task consisted in converting a small formal pond and an ugly formal bank into something that would form a more pleasing feature in the landscape. The problem, however, was well solved. The ugly bank became a varied mass of picturesejue rock, seamed with graceful ferns and trailing shrubs ; the water fell into what seemed a natural hollow m the earth, and around it sprang Part I. MINIATURE ROCK-GARDENS. 33 up tufts of Iris and Yucca. Rich masses of specimen Rho- dodendron s crest the rocks. The rocks, in fact, form a sort of retaining wall for the masses of earth which accom- modate these plants. Some old pear-trees and a pair of grand old Wych elms were carefully preserved, and greatly add to the effect of the scene. The mass of artificial rock- is cleverly and artistically constructed, but, like all masses Scene in the Gardens at (Jak Lodge. of the same species of rock, it is not suitable for alpine and rock-plants, etc. It Avould be easy, however, by de- positing at its base a {t\\ cart-loads of soil interspersed with fragments of rock, properly arranged in the manner described in a previous page, to enjoy the pleasure of successfully cultivating an extensive variety of these plants. The rock-gardens at Kensington and many others through- out the country were formed by Mr. Pulham, who possesses good taste and skill in the work in a very high degree. MINIATURE ROCK-GARDENS. Hitlierto we have chiefly considered the rock-garden on a somewhat extensive scale. As those who can afford this are less likely to want instruction than the much greater numbers who cannot, I propose now to treat of several successful modes of growing alpine flowers which may be carried out in the smallest gardens at a trifling expense. A well-arranged and well-planted alpine garden is some- 3 34 A LPJA'E FLOWERS. Part I. what costly, even wliere materials are easily obtained, and, moreover, requires much labour, skill, patience, and know- ledge of plants to keep it in a perennially interesting condition. Local conditions, want of suitable materials, want of knowledge, and consequent want of interest in the plants, must, in many cases, prevent this most interesting phase of gardening from being enjoyed. I am therefore the more desirous to help the smaller and humbler attempts of those who cannot afford more than a very small patch of alpine garden, as well as to assist beginners of every class. One of the simplest of all ways of cultivating alpine plants is in small rocky beds, arranged on the turf of some parts of the garden cut off by trees or shrubs from the ordinary flower-beds, without any of the pretensions of the ordinary rockwork ; one of these Avill give much greater satisfaction than many a pretentious " rockwork," and by the exercise of a very little judgment is readily constructed so as not to offend the nicest taste. I once induced the owner of a garden in the northern suburbs of London to procure a small collection of alpines and try them in this way, and the result was so charming that a few words as to how it was attained may be useful. A little bed was dug out in the clay soil to the depth of two feet, and a drain run from it to an outlet. near at hand ; the bed was filled with fine sandy peat and a little loam and leaf-mould, and, when nearly full, worn stones of difi^erent sizes were placed around the margin, so as to raise the bed on an average one foot or so above the turf. More soil was then put in, and a few rough slabs, arranged so as to crop out from the soil in ihe centre, completed the preparation fcr the neattr Sedums and Sempervivums, such SaxiFragts as S. ccesia and ^. Roc/uliana., such Dianthuses as D. alpiiius and D. petrceiis, Mountain Forget-me-nots, Gentians, little spring bulbs, Hepatica angiilosa, etc. They were planted, the finer and r.arer things getting the best positions, and, when finished, the bed looked a nest of small rocks and alpine flowers. In about eight weeks the plants had become established, and the bed looked quite gay from a dozen plants of Calandrinia umbcllata that had been planted on the little prominences flowering profusely. This made the arrange- ment et|ual to one of bedding plants from the '' eftcctive " Part I. MINI A TURE RO CK- GA RDENS. 35 point of view. Another was made in the same manner, with more loam, however, and planted with subjects as different from those in the other bed as could be got ; Small rocky bed of Alpine Flowers. confining them, however, to the choicest alpines, except on the outer side of the largest stones of the margin, where such plants as Campanula carpatica bicolor were planted with the best results. The only attention these beds have required since plant- ing has been to keep a free-growing species from overrunning a subject like Gentiana verna, to water the beds well in hot weather — to keep them in fact thoroughly moist — and to remove even the smallest weeds. With the exception of the exquisite Gentiana bavarica, every alpine plant grew well, and the beds presented fresh floral interest every week from the dawn of spring till late in autumn. I have described the way by which this happy result has been brought about. An extended scheme of this sort would be admirable in some public garden, especially in those pos- sessing large collections of alpine and herbaceous plants, from which many good selections could at once be made. Some- thing of the sort might be made in any garden — nay, even in a London square, or in any other position fully exposed to the sun, and never under the shade and drip of trees. Rockwork is, as a rule, made for the display of mountain plants, or those which by their dwarfness tall into the class commonly known as alpines. Some persons cover rock- work with climbing shrulDS and dwarf bushes, but in every case, unless where a rock is introduced for its own effect in the landscape, the object is to grow plants. Now, as very few of the subjects above alluded to like shade, or even tolerate it, it follows that this is an ignorant and bad 36 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. practice. Many persons who arrange such things doubtless fear the sun burning up their plants ; yet the sun that beats down on the Alps and Pyrenees is fiercer than that which shines on the British garden. But, while the Alpine sun cheers the flowers into beauty, it also melts the snows above, and water and frost grind down the rocks into earth ; and thus, enjoying both, the roots form perfectly healthy plants. Fully exposed plants do not perish from too much sun, but simply from want of water. Therefore it cannot be too widely known that full exposure to the sun is one of the first conditions of perfect rock-plant culture — abundance of free soil under the root, and such a disposition of the soil and rocks that the rain may permeate through and not fall oft" the rocks, being also indispensable. The preceding plan can be carried out in the very smallest places. The next is quite as easily adopted on the fringe of any shrubbery. An open, slighdy elevated, and, if possible, quite isolated spot should be chosen, and a small rock- garden so arranged as to appear as if naturally cropping out of the shrubbery. With a few cart-loads of stones and earth excellent eft'ects maybe produced in this way. The following- illustration well explains my meaning : it represents an irregu- larly sloping border, with a few mossy bits of rock peeping from a swarming carpet of Sandworts, Mountain-pinks, Rock-cresses, Sedums and Saxifrages, Arabises and Aubrie- tias, with a little company of fern-fronds sheltered in the low fnnge of shrub behind the mossy stones. Having determined on the position of the bed, the next thing to do is to excavate the ground to a depth of two feet, or thereabouts, and to run a drain from it if very wet. If not, it is better let alone, as a good deal of the success depends u])on the beds being continually moist ; and in dry soils, instead of draining, it would be better to put in a substratum of spongy peat, so as to retain moisture for the stony matter that the cavity is to be filled with. As to soil, rock-plants are found in all sorts ; but a good turfy loam, with plenty of silver or river sand added, will be found to suit a greater number of kinds than any other. The com- l^ost should be of a somewhat spongy character, and if not naturally so, it should be so made by the addition of we-U decomposed leaf-mould, cocoa-nut fibre, or, failing these, peat. If the trees of the shrubbery are of a nature likoly to Part I. MINIATURE ROCK-GARDENS. 37 send their roots into the mass of good compost prepared for the rock-plants, it will be desirable to dig a narrow drain as deep as their lowest roots, and fill it with concrete to the surface : this will prevent the alpine plants from being starved by their more vigorous neighbours. With the soil should be incorporated the smallest and least useful stones and de'bris among those collected for the work, so that the plants to adorn the surface may send down their roots through the mixture of earth and stone, and revel in it. When this is well and firmly done, the larger stones may be placed — half in the earth as a rule, and Rock-garden on margin of Shrubbery. on their broadest side, so that the mass, when completed, may be perfectly firm. PJave nothing to do with tree roots or stumps in work of this kind ; they crumble away, and are at best a nuisance and a disfigurement to a garden. The intervening spaces may then be filled up, half with the com- post and half with the stony matter, and the smaller blocks placed in position — the whole being made as tastefully 38 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. diversified as may seem desirable, taking the size of the structure into consideration. When finished, it should look like a bit of rocky ground, stones of different shapes pro- truding— here a straight-sided one, under the lee of which a shade-loving plant may flourish ; there two in juxtaposition, between which a cliff alpine may find a place. Two or three feet will as a rule be high enough for the highest points of rocky fringes of this sort, though the plan admits of consider- able variation, and it may be tastefully made twice or thrice as high. In some of our public and private gardens want of means is given as an excuse for the presence of the hideous masses of rockwork that disfigure them. The plan now recommended is as much less expensive than these as it is less offensive ! We will next discuss a most interesting way of growing alpines. Most of us have had opportunities of seeing how the most uninviting surfaces often yield a resting-place and nutriment to various forms of plant-life. The closest pave- ments, the stone roofs of old buildings, the stems and branches of trees, the faces of inaccessible rocks, and ruins, are all frequently embellished in the most charming way •with ferns and wild flowers. RUIN AND WALL GARDENS. ' Here stood a shattered archway gay with flowers. And here had fallen a great part of a tower — Part I. RUIN- AND WALL GARDENS. 39 Whole, like a crag that tumbles from a cliff, And like a crag was gay with wilding flowers ; And high above a piece of turret stairs, Worn by the feet that now were silent, wound Bare to the sun." — These lines from Tennyson's ' Idylls ' are a true pic- ture of the plant-life on many old ruins ; and on many comparativ^ely new structures we also see flowers and ferns quite at home. Many plants that in gardens have carefully prepared soil grow naturally on the barest and most arid surfaces. This fact must not be supposed to be contradictory of previous statements, as to the necessity of giving alpine plants a suitable material to root into ; it is the open loose texture of the ordinary rockwork, or its solidly cemented masses, into which the plants cannot root, that does the mischief. It is not without considerable observation of the capa- bilities of walls — even walls in good repair — to grow nume- rous rare and pretty plants, and, moreover, keep them in perpetual health without requiring any trouble, that I recommend everybody who takes an interest in the matter to have the fullest confidence in growing them easily in this way. Most of those who are blessed with gardens have usually a little wall surface at their disposal ; and all such should know that some plants will grow thereon better than in the best soil. A mossy old wall, or an old ruin, would aftbrd a position for many dwarf rock-plants which no specially prepared situation could rival ; but even on straight and well-preserved walls we can establish some little beauties, which year after year will abundantly repay the tasteful cultivator for the slight trouble of planting or sowing them. Those who have observed how dwarf plants grow on the tops of mountains, or on elevated stony ground, must have seen in what unpromising positions many flourish in perfect health — fine tufts sometunes springing from an almost imperceptible chink in an arid rock or boulder. They are often stunted and diminutive in such places, but always more floriferous and long-lived than when grown vigorously upon the ground ; m fact, their beauty is often intensified by starvation and aridity. Now, numbers of alpine plants perish if planted in the ordinary soil of our gardens, and many do so where much pains is taken to attend to their wants. This results from over-moisture at ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. the root in winter, the plant being rendered more susceptible of injury by our moist green winters inducing it to make a lingering growth. But it is interesting and useful to know that, by placing many of these delicate plants where their roots can secure a comparatively dry and well-drained medium, they remain in perfect health. My attention was first called to the great adaptability of walls, ruins, etc. for growing many choice rock-plants, while visiting Dublin a few years ago. Near Lucan, I observed the upper portion of the old brick wall of a garden — indeed, all of it that was out of convenient reach — covered with a dwarf, green, moss-like plant, and before coming close to it, I asked the gardener Avhat it was that made the wall so green. " It is," he replied, " a plant like a moss, but every spring it is covered with the most 'beauteeful' flowers."' And "sure enough " that is its character, for it proved to be the pretty little Erimis alpinus, which would have had little or no chance of existing on the level ground in the same place, and Avhich had, at some time or other, escaped to the wall, and there found a home as congenial as its native one. This Avill suggest at once that many i^lants from latitudes a little farthersouth than our own, and from alpine regions, may find on walls, rocks, and ruins, that dwarf, ripe, sturdy growth, stony firmness of root medium, and dryness in Part I. RUIN AND WALL GARDENS. 41 winter, which go to form the very conditions that make them at home in a climate entirely different from their own. There Rock-plants established on an old fort wall. are many alpine plants now cultivated with difficulty in frames, even in places where there is a fine collection and much The great Pyrenean Saxifrage {S. Loitgifolia), one foot in diam. {From a Photcigraph.) knowledge of these subjects, that the most unpractised may grow in such positions as I describe. 42 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. The reader will do well not to ask if what I advise is practised in gardens growing collections of alpines, but to put the matter to the test of experiment. The idea of grow- ing such splendid alpine plants as the true Saxifraga longi- folia of the Pyrenees on the straight surface of a wall, has never even entered into the heads of the managers of our largest gardens, and probably some of them would laugh at it ; but I affirm that it is in the power of any person to suc- ceed \nth them, and the trial can be made at a merely nominal cost. I have no doubt whatever that at least 400 species of cultivated rock and alpine plants would thrive well on old walls and ruins if sown thereon. Nor must it be supposed that a moist district is necessary, for the Pansy shown in the accompany- ing cut grew by chance on a wall at Kew — the brick wall behind the narrow border for herbaceous plants. It sprung forth at a foot or so below a coping, which prevented it from getting much or any rain, and one would scarcely have ex- pected a Pansy to have existed in such a position. It not only did so, but flowered well and continuously. No doubt the seed fell in the chink by chance. The best way to establish plants on walls is by seed. The Cheddar Pink, for example, grows on walls at Oxford much better than I have ever known it do on rockwork or on the level ground, in which last position indeed it soon dies. A few seeds of this plant, sown in a mossy or earthy chink, or even covered with a dust of fine soil, would soon take root and grow into neat little specimens, living, moreover, for years in that dwarf and perfectly healthful state so agreeable to the eye. So it is with most of the plants enumerated ; the seedling roots vigorously into the chinks, and gets a hold which it rarely relaxes. But of some plants seeds are not to be had, and therefore it will be often necessary to use plants. In all cases young plants should be selected, and, as they will have been used to growing in fertile ground, or good soil in pots, and have all their little feeding roots coni- Pansy on dry brick-wall. Part I. RUIN AND WALL GARDENS. 43 pactly gathered up near the surface, they must be placed in a chink with a Httle moist soil, which will enable them to exist until they have struck root into the interstices of the wall. In this way I have seen several interesting species of ferns established, and also the silvery Saxifrages, and can assure the reader that the appearance of the starry rosettes of these little rock-plants (the kinds with incrusted leaves, like S. hvigifolia, and S. lingulata) growing flat against the wall will prove strikingly beautiful. All the best kinds for our purpose, those that can be readily obtained and established without trouble, are marked with an asterisk in the list of selections which will be found farther on, and should be chosen by the doubters and beginners in this culture. While many have old ruins and walls on which to grow alpine plants, others will have no means of enjoying them this way ; but all may succeed perfectly with the plan sug- gested in the next figure. By building a rough stone wall, and packing the intervals as firmly as possible with loam and sandy peat, and putting, perhaps, a little mortar on the outside of the largest interstices, a host of brilliant gems may be grown witli almost as little attention as we bestow A rude stone wall covered with Alpine Plants. on the common Ivy. Thoroughly consolidated, the mate- rials of the wall would afford precisely the kind of nutriment required by the plants. To many species the wall would prove a more congenial home than any but the best con- structed rock-garden. In many parts of the country the rains would keep the walls in a sufficiently moist condition, the top being always left somewhat concave ; in dry districts 44 ALPIXE FLOJVEKS. Part I. a perforated copper pipe laid along the top will diffuse the requisite moisture. In very moist places, natives of wet rocks, and trailing plants like the Li/uicea, might be inter- spersed here and there among the other alpines ; in dry ones it would be desirable to plant chiefly the Saxifrages, Sedums, small Campanulas, Linarias, and subjects that, even in hotter countries than ours, find a home on the sunniest and barest crags. The chief care in the management of this wall of alpine flowers would be in preventing weeds or coarse plants from taking root and overrunning the choice gems. When these intruders are once observed, they can be easily prevented from making any further progress by con- tinually cutting oft" their shoots as they appear; it would never be necessary to disturb the wall even in the case of a thriving Convolvulus. The wall of alpine plants may be placed in any convenient position in or near the garden : there is no reason why a portion of the walls usually devoted to climbers should not be prepared as I describe. The boundary walls of multitudes of small gardens would look better if graced by alpine flowers than bare as they usually are. However, when once it is generally known that the very walls may be jewelled with this exquisite plaiit-life, it need not be pointed out where opportunities may be found for developing it. ALPINE FLOWERS IN THE MIXED BORDER. The old-fashioned mixed border offers a capital means of growing, without trouble, numbers of first-class alpine plants. This much abused, much misunderstood, sometimes over- praised method of arranging plants is now rarely or never seen with us in what are called " good gardens." When seen, it is usually a poor sight, and worthy of the ridicule bestowed by some persons on what they have never seen in perfection, and know little about. They misunder- stand this old system, and abuse it. However, its ancient admirers were not backward in the first respect, as they filled it with tall, weedy, and strong Asters, Solidagos, and the like, possessing no merit, and therefore soon brought the system into contempt. It is undervalued by nearly everybody ; curators of botanic gardens — the very men who ought to Part I. ALPINE FLOWERS IN MIXED BORDERS. 45 know and appreciate its merit — have sneered at it ; great " bedding-out people " have given it no mercy, when it was nearly or quite finished without their aid ; and finally, the very people of whose gardens it was the life — the owners of cottage gardens — have too often neglected it in favour of a few kinds of tender bedding plants. Even yet, however, you may see a trace of it about country cottages, and nothing can be prettier than to find one sur- rounded by a nice variety of hardy plants, from Roses and Honeysuckle to double Saxifrage and Lily-of-the valley ; but, unhappily, these poor cottagers are also beginning to run after strange gods, as would appear from the following extract from a letter addressed by a Nottingham clergyman to the " Field " :— " It is, I confess, with deep regret that in the last few years I have seen the ' posy gardens ' of several cottages in my parish destroyed — the Moss-roses, Clove Carnations, aye, and the Ladslove and the Lemon Thyme, rooted out, and their place supplied by a ridiculous grass plat, with a hole in the centre, empty for eight months in the year, and contain- ing for the odier four months Scarlet Geraniums and Verbenas purchased at sixpence each from some neighbouring nurser\-, and forming a wretched parody upon the ' masses of colour ' which weary my eyes and try my temper when I am con- ducted by lady friends through their blazing parterres, which, notwithstanding their perpetual sameness, I am expected to admire." Such is the happy result we have arrived at by " improv- ing" the flower-garden. Persons with houses and frames and other garden conveniences can manage very well; bat what a sorry thing it is to think that those with only means to grow hardy flowers have rooted them out, and are obliged to buy or to beg a few plants every spring ! For them the exquisite flora of the Alps has no attractions. To them tiie vast families of plants that garnish with unsurpassed beauty the woods and wilds of northern and temperate climes offer not a sole specimen which they consider worthy of cultiva- tion. But where is the interest or true beauty of their gardens? It does not exist \ and thus the delightful art of gardening has become with them a thing more contemptible than the production of wall-paper patterns. Instead of gathering round their homes much of the choicest interest of the 46 ALPL\'E FLOWERS. Part I. vegetable kingdom — a thing which anyone can do with- out a particle of expense for artificial heat — they make a series of blotches, and boast that there is scarcely a leaf to be seen. " I have," says the gendeman above quoted, " amidst hundreds of plants in my own garden, which recall absent friends and far-off scenes — I have flourishing in my flower-beds Acanthus from the walls of the Coliseum, Cycla- men from the tomb of Virgil, and Anemone from the cliffs of Sorrento." Where are the associations of the com- mon "bedding" gardener? where even the fragrance or the beauty of his flowers ? They are mostly devoid of any such thing, simply affording telling colour of some kind — it matters not whether by leaves or flowers. We must change all this, without destroying any good feature of " bedding out." We must again have our mixed borders, not the old mixed bor- ders, but improvements on them. There are several other ways of arranging hardy plants in a more beautiful, natural, and pleasing manner, but the mixed border forms a sort of reception-room for all comers and at all times. On its front margin you may place your newest Sedum or silvery Saxifrage ; at the back or in the centre your latest Delphinium, Phlox, or Gladiolus ; and therefore it is, on the whole, the most useful arrangement, though it should as a rule be placed in a rather isolated part of the garden, where the extent of the place permits of that. Not that a mixed border is not sufficiently presentable for any position ; but, as many other arrangements require the more open and important parts of the garden, this had better be kept in a quiet, retired place, where indeed its interest may be best enjoyed. If no better situation be oftered than the kitchen-garden, make a mixed border there by all means. The little nursery department, if there be one, will also suit ; but best of all, in a large place, would be a quiet strip in the pleasure-ground or flower-garden, separated, if the garden be in the natural style, by a thin shrubbery, from the general scene of the flower-garden. It is vain to lay down any precise rules as to the position or arrangement of this or anything else ; for, even if we suc- ceeded in having them adopted, what a sad end would it not lead to — every place being like its neighbour ! That, above all others, is a thing to be avoided. In old times, the borders on each side cf the main walk of the kitchen-garden were Part I. ALPINE FLOIVERS IN MIXED BORDERS. 47 principally appropriated to herbaceous plants ; and, if well done, this is a good practice, especially if the place be small. A border arranged in this way in a small villa garden will prove a very attractive feature, especially if cut otf from the vegetable and fruit quarters by a trellis-work completely covered with good strong-growing varieties of Roses on their own roots. The mixed border is capable of infinite variation as to plan as well as to variety of subjects. The most interesting variety is that composed of choice hardy herbaceous plants, Alpine Plants growing in a level border. (A Garden Sketch, June, 1871.) bulbs, and alpine plants. Another of a very attractive des- cription may be made by the use of bedding plants only, from Dahlias and Gladioli to the smallest kinds, but we will now confine ourselves to the old-fashioned sort made with hardy plants alone. There is a symmetrical system, which must be entirely avoided — that of placing quantities of one thing, good or bad, as the case may be, at regular intervals from each other. The very reverse of that is the true system for the best and most interesting kind of mixed border. In a well-arranged one, no six feet of its length should resemble any other six feet of the same border. Certainly it may be desirable to have several specimens of a favourite plant ; but any approach to planting the same thing in numerous places along the same line should be avoided. I should not, for instance, place one of the neat Saxifrages along in front of the border at regular intervals, fine and well suited as it might be for that purpose ; but, on the contrary, attempt to produce in all parts totally distinct types of vegetation. 48 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. Part I. ALPIXE FLOWERS IN MIXED BORDERS. 49 ^ 6 S5 .5fc. < s c ,/ •S s o c CD* '=^ ^ «-^ c :2 ■i.'S s.-^ H' — «* CS. ^^ >> o §2 .^L .-2 — ffi'g ^1 •^ 2 p ^ Q 50 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. The plan on page 49 shows a small portion of what I conceive to be a tastelully arranged mixed border, and, at the same time, the proper position for the alpine plants in the front line. Each of the dwarf plants in front should be allowed to grow into a strong spreading tuft. The borders should be deeply prepared, and of a fine free texture — in short, of good, rich, sandy loam. That is the chief point in the culture. It is a great mistake to dig among choice hardy plants, and therefore no amount of pains should be spared in the preparation of the ground at first. If thoroughly well made then, there will be no need of any digging of the soil for a long time. Many alpine plants, when grown in borders, are much benefited by being surrounded by a l&\^ half-buried rugged stones or pieces of rock. These are useful in preventing excessive evaporation, in guarding the plant, when small and Alpine Plant on border burroundtd by half-buried stones. young, from being trampled upon or overrun by coarse weeds or plants, and in keeping the ground firmer. Besides, many mountain plants look much more at home when arranged somewhat as shown in the accompanying illustration than in any other way on borders. A few barrowfiils of stones — the large flints of which edgings are often made will do well, if better cannot be ob- tained— will suffice for many plants ; and this simple plan will be found to suit many who cannot aftbrd the luxury of a properly formed rockwork. Lists of alpine plants suitable for the mixed border will be found in the selections at Ihe end of the book. ALPINE PLANTS IN SHRUBPERV BORDERS. Lastly, I will speak of the capabilities of common shrub- bery borders, etc., for growing a very considerable number of aLpine plants. No practice is more general, or more in Part I. ALPINES IN SHRUBBERY BORDERS. 51 accordance with ancient custom, than that of digging shrub- bery borders, and there is none in the whole course of gardening less profitable or worse in its effects. When winter has once come, almost every gardener, although animated with the best intentions, simply prepares to make war upon the roots of everything in his shrubbery border. The generally accepted practice is to trim, and often to mutilate the shrubs, and to dig all over the surface that must be full of feeding roots. Delicate half-rooted shrubs are often disturbed ; herbaceous plants, if at all fragile and not easily recognised, are destroyed ; bulbs are often dis- placed and injured, and a bare depopulated aspect is given to the margins, while the only "improvement" that is effected by the process is the annual darkening of the surface by the upturned earth. Illustrations of my meaning occur by miles in our London parks in winter. Walk through any of them at that season, and observe the borders round masses of shrubs, choice and otherwise. Instead of finding the earth covered, or nearly covered, with vegetation close to the margin, and each individual plant developed into a representative specimen of its kind, we find a spread of recently-dug ground, with the plants upon it, exhibiting the air of having recently suffered from a whirlwind, or some other visita- tion that necessitated the removal of mutilated branches. Rough-pruners precede the diggers, and bravely trim in the shrubs for them, so that nothing may be in the way ; and then come the spadesmen, who sweep along from margin to margin, plunging deeply round and about plants, shrubs, or trees. The first shower that occurs after this digging ex- poses a whole network of torn-up roots. There is no relief to the spectacle ; the same thing occurs everywhere — in a London botanic garden as well as in our large West-end parks ; and year after year is the process repeated." While such is the case, it will be impossible to have an agreeable or interesting margin to a shrubbery; albeit the importance of the edge, as compared to the hidden parts, is pretty much as that of the face to the back of a mirror. Of course all the labour required to produce this unhappy result is worse than thrown away, as the shrubberies would do better if left alone, and merely surface-cleaned now and then. By utilising the power thus wasted, we might highly 52 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. beautify other parts of our grounds which are now in a very objectionable condition. If we resolve that no annual manuring or digging is to be permitted, nobody will grudge a thorough preparation at first. The planting should be so arranged as to defeat the digger. To graduate the vegetation from the taller subjects behind to the very margin of the grass is of much import- ance, and this can only be done thoroughly by the greater use of permanent evergreen and very dwarf subjects. Happily, there are quite enough of these to be had suitable for every soil. On light, moist, peaty, or sandy soils, where such subjects as the sweet-scented DapJme Cncorum would spread forth its dwarf cushions, a better result would ensue than, say on a stiff clay; but for every position suitable plants might be found. Look, for example, at what we could do with the dwarf green Iberises, Helianthemums, Aubrietias, Arabises, Alyssums, dwarf shrubs, and little conifers like the creeping Cedar {Juuiperus squa?fiata), and the Tamarix-leaved Juniper ! All these are green, and would spread out into dense wide cushions, covering the margin, rising but little above the grass, and helping to cut off the formal line which usually divides margin and border. Behind them we might use very dwarf shrubs, deciduous or evergreen, in endless variety; and of course the margin should be varied also. In one spot we might have a wide-spreading tuft of the prostrate Savin pushing its graceful evergreen branchlets out over the grass ; in another the little dwarf Cotoneasters might be allowed to form the front rank, relieved in their turn by pegged-down roses ; and so on without end. Her- baceous plants, that die down in winter and leave the ground bare afterwards, should not be assigned any import- ant position near the front. Evergreen alpine plants and shrubs, as before remarked, are perfectly suitable here ; but the true herbaceous type, and the larger bulbs, like Lilies, should be placed between spreading shrubs rather than be allowed to monopolise the ground. By so placing them, we should not only secure a far more satisfactory general effect, but highly improve the aspect of the herbaceous plants themselves. The head of a white Lily, seen peeping up between shrubs of fresh and glistening green, is infinitely more attractive than when forminii; one of a lar^e batch of Part r. ALPINES IN SHRUBBERY BORDERS. 53 its own or allied kinds, or associated with a mass of herba- ceous plants. Of course, to carry out such planting properly, a little more time at first and a great deal more taste than are now employed would be required ; but what a difference in the result ! In the kind of border I advocate, nearly all the trouble would be over with the first planting, and labour and skill could be successively devoted to other parts of the place. All that the covered borders would require would be an occasional weeding or thinning, etc., and perhaps, in the case of the more select spots, a little top-dressing with fine soil. Here and there, between and amongst the plants, Forget-me-nots and Violets, Snowdrops and Primroses, might be scattered about, so as to lend the borders a floral interest, even at the dullest seasons ; and thus we should be relieved from the periodical annoyance of digging and its consequences, and see our borders alive with exquisite plants. A list of species suitable for this purpose will be found among the selections. And now, having spoken of growing alpine flowers in various ways, I will say a few words in favour of such of them as happen to be among the plants usually termed "florists' flowers." What is a "florists'" flower? Well, merely one that has been a great favourite with gardeners, and, being much raised from seed by them, has sported into such a number of distinct varieties in their hands that it forms a sort of little isolated family in a corner apart from botanical classification, so to speak. The term is, in short, a bad one to designate flowers that have been much grown by man, or rather which, exhibiting considerable variation under his care, have been preserved by him in their most striking and admired forms. They are in many cases double flowers that belong to these florists' groups — the Hollyhock and Dahlia, to wit — though not a few are single, like the Gladiolus and Auricula. Florists' flowers that have sprung from high mountain or rock-plants, like the Auricula or the Carnation, are perhaps more worthy of attention than any others, in consequence of their rich and elegant markings, perfect hardiness, neatness of habit, shape of bloom, and adaptability to the wants of cultivators in all parts of the country. They ought to be in every garden — not of necessity to be cultivated as " florists' flowers," but treated as ordinary hardy plants. The true florist tends his 54 ALPIXE FLOWERS. Part I. flowers almost as carefully as if they Avere so many tender exotics, and is precise as to their position, soil, and every other condition; but these are such very hardy subjects that they may be well enjoyed without any attention beyond planting them in a suitable position in the first instance. We may assign some cause why many interesting plants and classes of plants have gone out of cultivation ; but there is one thing that can hardly be accounted for, and that is, why the fragrant, beautiful, and neat classes of hardy florists' flowers — from elegantly laced Picotees to richly stained Polyanthuses — should have almost disappeared from our gardens, and be now in want of the least advocacy from me. In them we have flowers of unimpeachable merit, equally worthy of cultivation in garden of peer or cottager. They are as hardy as our native plants, require no steaming in houses at any time of their lives, are generally pleasing in habit, whether in or out of flower, sometimes useful for the spring garden, and in nearly all cases among the very best plants which we can grow for cutting from ; and yet, with all these undoubted merits, where are they? Gene- rally speaking, fallen into " the abyss of things that were." They have, of course, been driven from tlie field by the bedding system ; but so surely as the perception of what is really beautiful still lives amongst us, so surely will they Gome into our gardens again, and be grown more than ever. THE iSTATURAL ROCK-GARDEN. Perhaps the most fortunate of all lovers of alpine flowers are those who have opportunities of growing them where there is a natural rock-garden — a not uncommon case in many parts of these islands. Where the rock crops up naturally in any way approaching that shown on the opposite page, a very trifling expense, a little taste, and some know- ledge of suitable plants is all that is required to produce a magnificent result. Numbers of exotic herbs are sufiiciently vigorous to take care of themselves among the weeds that grow in such places, while a select open spot may be easily cleared for the rarer and more delicate alpine plants. Even if only a few points of rock show, excavating or procuring smaller masses, and arranging them so that they seem to peep naturally from the earth, cannot be a matter Part I. THE NATURAL ROCK-GARDEN. 55 56 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. of difificulty. The nobler herbaceous plants, from the stately Pampas Grass to the brilliant Tritoma, might here be associated with the Brake-fern and the Struthiopteris ; the light tracery of the various splendid everlasting peas, v/hite and crimson, might twine in undisciplined loveliness amongst the huge leaves of such plants as Rheum Einodi and Acanthus laiifoHus ; the superb new purple Clematises, Avith countless blooms Hke saucers of purple, and many trailing mountain herbs, might drape over the rocks not too thickly studded with ferns or flowers ; the Cyclamens and Lilies, and many brilliant hardy bulbs from the sunny hills of Italy and Greece might here bloom in company with the Linngea of North Europe and Scotland, and the many interesting plants that haunt the bogs and mossy woods of northern and arctic regions ; and with all these and many more might be carried out Lord Bacon's conception of a "Naturall wildnesse. Trees I would have none in it; But some Thickets., made only of Szceet-Briar, and Honny-suckle, and some Wilde-Vim amongst; and the Ground set with Violets, Stratvberries, and Trime-Roses. For these are Sweet, and prosper in the Shade. And these to be in the Heath, here and there, not in any Order. I like also little Heaps, in the Nature of Mole-hils, (such as are in Wilde Heaths) to be set, some with Wild Thyme; Some with Pincks ; Some with Germander, that gives a good Flower to the Eye ; Some with Periwinckle ; Some with Violets ; Some with Strawberries ; Some with Cowslips ; Some with Daisies ; Some with Red-Roses ; Some with Lilium Convallium ; Some with Sweet-Williams Red ; Some with Beares-Foot ; And the like Low Flowers, being withal Sweet, and Sightly." Where natural rock appears in only one spot, and we desire to make the most of it, it is better to clear away any wood or coarse undershrub that may surround it, so as to permit the full development of alpine and rock-plants ; but should it crop up in more than one or in several positions in woods, it would be better to leave at least one such spot as much shaded with trees as possible, so that wood and copse-plants and shade-loving ferns might be there fully developed. Such a spot would form a very agreeable re- treat in hot days. A few groups of the noble-leaved Ber- berises in the way of B. nepalcnsis would thrive admirably Part I. ALPINE PLANTS ON WINDOW SILLS. 57 in peat near such a position ; in an open, sunny but shel- tered nook, a wild arrangement of Cannas and other sub- tropical plants would form a fine feature, while various low wood-shrubs, like the American Rubies nutkatuis and R. sptdabilis, would be seen to greater advantage running wild near such positions than in any others. And so also would a number of interesting hardy grasses, herbs, and shrubs, and dwarf wood-plants like the Pyrolas. ALPINE PLANTS ON WINDOW SILLS. Hidierto, all the arrangements treated of, whether large or small, ambitious or humble, require some kind of garden in which to carry them out. We will next consider the case of the owners of those limited sites for gardens — window sills. On these numbers of diminutive and inte- resting alpine plants may be easily grown. My first pro- posal is to pick out sonie of the prettiest and most diverse of the Stonecrops, Sempervivums, silvery Saxifrages, etc., to plant them in a goodly-sized box, and use a few rough stones by way of miniature rocks. I would place the box or boxes in the full sun, and give them plenty of water from a rose in warm spring and summer weather, and, in- deed, at all times when they are dry, which is not likely to occur often during the dull months of winter. Among and between the alpine plants I would in autumn place here and there a diminutive spring-flowering bulb — say Biilbo- codiiim vernum, Scilla sibirica, and S. bifolia, small Daffodils, Snowdrops, Snowflakes ; and, if the box be large, a few of the delicately coloured Crocuses. The boxes should never be taken indoors, except for re-arrangement. When the snow comes the plants are comfortable, as it is their natural protection in a wild state ; frost or rain hurts them not, and even London smoke is not able to destroy their little lives if they are tolerably attended to. The boxes most suitable for this purpose are wooden ones, with zinc troughs, deco- rated externally with chippings of oak and apple trees, fir cones, etc. ; or what may be called architectural boxes, of wood also, but painted stone-colour externally, and designed so as to suit buildings, which the rustic ones do not. Both these kinds of boxes are made in good form by various firms in London and elsewhere. No matter what pattern is 58 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. adopted, it is desirable to allow some plants of a trailing habit to fall over its outer edge. If the outer margins of the boxes were well covered, it would matter little what form were used. The common Stonecrop, Sedum Sieboldii, Thymus latnigiiwsus, the woolly-leaved Cerastiums, and many other hardy plants, will do this effectively. A yet more satisfactory window rock-garden can be made outside of a window to which light has free access, by forming a miniature alpine garden on the sill. It is done by simply putting a few irregular stones along the front margin, and packing a few small bits of turfy peat or loam inside them to prevent the fine soil, afterwards to be added, from being washed out. Then fill in the hollow with sandy loam, mixed, if convenient, with morsels of broken sandstone. A few mossv or ancient-looking stones should be half-buried The Window Rock-garden (interior view). on the upper surface, and then the whole should be planted, the best time to do this being in April. It is not merely possible to keep alpine succulents in this way : it is easy to grow a multitude of the most interesting and beautiful kinds ! I never in garden or wild saw these plants in better health, or looking more at home, than on the outside of a low sunny window in Mr. Peter Barr's house at Tooting. The accompanying figure shows a view of this from the interior; it was no less pretty seen from without. It is, however, impossible to show in an engraving the exquisite effect of the Lilliputian succulents. The attention required is very trifling — some little taste in forming and planting, a judicious selection of plants, and thorough waterings through the dry season. I need hardly add that small and brilliant- Part I. ALPINE PLANTS IN POTS. 59 flowered spring bulbs might be employed to light up this tiny garden in spring as well as that previously mentioned. It would also be desirable to plant subjects of a drooping character on the outer margin. The alpine succulents are all thoroughly hardy, and would remain in good condition during the winter, but a little changing and replanting every spring would be very desirable. ALPINE PLANTS IN POTS. Hitherto alpine plants have generally been grown in pots, and it might perhaps be supposed from this fact that some- thing like perfection was arrived at in their culture. It is not so. I do not advocate their culture in pots at all where an opportunity of making even the smallest type of rock- work exists ; but there are many cases in which they cannot be well grown in any other way. It is desirable to keep some kinds in pots till sufficiently plentiful, and it is also very desirable to grow a number of distinct and handsome kinds in this way for the purpose of exhibiting them at flower shows. We are pre-eminently great at exhibiting ; our pot-plants are far before those of other countries ; specimens are to be seen at every show which are models not only as regards beauty, but as showing a remarkable development of plant from a very small portion of confined earth, exposed to many vicissitudes ; yet in one respect we have made no progress whatever, and that is, in the pot-culture of alpine and herbaceous plants for exhibition purposes. Prizes are frequently offered and usually awarded at our flower shows for these plants, but the exhibitors rarely deserve a prize at all, for their plants are generally badly selected, badly grown, and such as ought never to appear on a stage at all. In almost every other class the first thmg the exhibitor does is to select appropriate kinds — distinct and beautiful, and then he makes some preparation before- hand for exhibiting them ; but in the case of hardy plants, anybody who happens to have a rough lot of miscellaneous plants exhibits them, and thus it is that I have seen such beauties as the following more than once shown : a com- mon Thrift with the dead flower-stems on it, and drooping over the green leaves ; a plant of Arabis albida out of 6o ALPIXE FLOWERS. Tart I. flower ; the Pellitory-of-the-wall, which has as httle beauty in flower as out of it : not to speak of a host of worthless things not in themselves ugly, but far inferior to others in the same families. What would become of our shows if the same tactics were carried out in other classes ? Even the most successful exhibitors are apt to look about them a day before the show for the best flowering cuttings of such plants as Iberis co7-rece folia, and, sticking four or five of these into a pot, present them as "specimens." Now, what is so easily grown into the neatest of specimens as an Iberis? By merely plunging in the ground a few six-inch pots filled with rich soil, and putting in them a few young cutting plants, they would, if " left to nature," be good specimens in a short time, while with a little pinching, and feeding, and pegging-down, they would soon be fit to grace any exhibition. So it is with many other plants of like habit and size — the dwarf shrubby Lithospennum prostratiim, for example ; a little time and the simplest skill will do all that is required. Such subjects as the foregoing, with tiny shrubs like Andromeda tetragona and A.fastigiafa, the Men- ziesias and Gaulthcria procunihens, the choicer Helianthe- mums and dwarf Phloxes, and many others enumerated in the selections of exhibition plaints, might be found pretty enough to satisfy even the most fastidious growers of New Holland plants. The very grass is not more easily grown than plants like Iberises and Aubrietias, yet to ensure their being worthy of a place, they ought to be at least a year in pots so as to secure well-furaished plants. Such vigorous subjects, to merit the character of being well grown, should fall luxu- riantly over the edge of the pots, and in all cases as much as possible of the crockeryware should be hidden. The dwarf and spreading habit of many of this class of plants would render this a matter of no difficulty. In some cases it would be desirable to put a number of cuttings or young rooted plants into six-inch pots, so as to form specimens quickly. Pots of six inches diameter are well adapted for growing many subjects of this intermediate type; and with good culture, and a little liquid manure, it would be quite possible to get a large development of plant in such a comparatively small pot, but if very large specimens were desired, a size larger might be resorted to. Part I. , ALPINE PLANTS IN POTS. ^ 6i To descend from the type that seems to present to the cultivator the greatest number of neat and attractive flower- ing plants, we will next deal with the dwarf race of hardy succulents, and the numerous minute alpine plants that associate with them in size — a class rich in merit and strong in numbers. These should, as a rule, be grown and shown in pans : they are often so pretty and singular in aspect, as in the case of the little silvery Saxifrages, that they will be very attractive when out of flower, while the flowers are none the less beautiful because the leaves happen to be ornamental in an unusual way. Many of a similar size, as ErpdioJi retiifonnc and Maziis Pumi/io, must be shown in good flower. All these little plants are of the readiest culture in pans, with good drainage and light soil. Of course the speediest way to form good specimens of the most diminutive kinds is to dot young plants over the surface of the pot or pan at once. Some few alpine plants are somewhat delicate or difficult ■to grow ; and amongst the most beautiful and interesting of these are the Gentians, and certain of the Primulas. There are many beginners who will be ambitious to succeed in cultivating them, but, in a general way, it would be better to avoid, at first, all such .difficult subjects, since a failure with them is apt to be disheartening. I believe that a more liberal culture than is generally pursued is what is wanted for these more difficult kinds, and for such as are usually considered impossible to cultivate. The plants are often ob- tained in a delicate and small state ; then they are, perhaps, kept in some out-of-the-way frame, or put where they receive but chance attention; or, perhaps, they die off" from some vicissitude, or fall victims to slugs, which seem to relish their flavour, considering how thoroughly they eat oft" some kinds; or, if a little unhealthy about the roots, are injured by earth-worms, whose casts serve to clog up the drainage, and thus render the pot uninhabitable. With strong and healthy young plants to begin with, good, and more liberal culture, and plunging in the open air in beds of coal-ashes through the greater part of the year, the majority of those supposed to be unmanageable would soon flourish beautifully. I have taken species of Primula, usually seen in a very weakly and poor state, divided them, keeping safe all the young roots, put one sucker in the centre, and five or six round the sides 62 ALPIXE FLOWERS. Part I. of a 32-sized pot, and in a year made "perfect specimens" of them, with, of course, a greater profusion of bloom than if I had depended on one plant only. Annual or biennial division is an excellent plan to pursue with many of these plants, which in a wild state run each year a little farther into the deposit of decaying herbage which surrounds them, or, it may be, into the sand and grit which are continually being carried down by natural agencies. In our long summer, some of the Primulas will make a tall growth and protrude rootlets on the stem — a state for which dividing and replanting them tirmly, nearly as deep down as the collar, is an excellent remedy. There are many plants which demand to be permanently established, and with which an entirely different course must be pursued, Spigelia marilandica, Gentiatm verna, G. bava- rica, and Cypripediutn spectabik, for example. The Gentians are very rarely well grown, and yet I am convinced that few will fail to grow them if they procure in the first instance strong established plants ; pot them carefully and firmly in good sandy loam, well drained, using bits of grit or gravel in the soil ; plunge the pots in sand or coal-ashes to the rim, in a position fully exposed to the sun ; and give them abundance of water during the spring and summer months, taking, of course, all necessary precautions against worms, slugs, and weeds. And such will be found to be the case with many other rare and fine alpine plants. The best posi- tion in which to grow the plants would be in some open spot near the working sheds, where they could be plunged in coal-ashes, and be under the cultivator's eye. And, as they should show the public what the beauty of hardy plants really is, so should they be grown entirely in the open air in spring and summer. To save the pots and pans from crack- ing with frost, it would in many cases be desirable to plunge them in shallow cold frames, or cradles, with a northern exposure in winter ; but, in the case of the kinds that die down in winter, a few inches of some light covering thrown over the pots, when the tops of the plants have perished, would form a sufficient protection. Alpine and herbaceous plants in pots, and kept in the open air all the winter, are best plunged in a porous material on a porous bottom, and on the north side of a hedge or wall, where they would be less exposed to changes Part I. ALPINE PLANTS IN POTS. 63 of temperature, and less liable to be excited into growth at that season. The most suitable kind of pots for alpine plants that I have yet seen are those used by Mr. G. Maw, in his gardens at Benthall Hall, near Brosely. These pots are 'of a pecu- liar size — eight inches broad by four inches deep. They seem peculiarly well suited to the wants of alpine plants, securing, as they do, a good body of soil, not so liable to rapid changes as that in a small vessel ; while in stature, being only four inches high, they are exactly what is wanted for these dwarf plants. The common garden pan suits some alpine plants well ; but is not so well suited to the stature of alpine plants, or the wants of their roots, as a pot of this pattern. For growing the Androsaces and some rare Saxifrages a modification of the common pot may be employed with a good result. This is effected by cutting a piece out of the Pot lor Androsaces, etc. Alpine Plant growing between stones in a Pot. side of the pot, one and a half or two inches deep. The head of the plant potted in this way is placed outside of the pot, leaning over the edge of the oblong opening, its roots within in the ordinary way, among sand, grit, stones, etc. (See fig.). Thus w-ater cannot lie about the necks of the plants to their destruction. This method, which I first observed in M. Boissier's garden, near Lausanne, in 1868, is undoubtedly an advantageous one for delicate tufted plants which are liable to perish from this cause. The pots used there were taller proportionately than those we com- monly use, so that there was plenty of room for the roots after the rather deep cutting had been made in the side of the pot. A yet more desirable mode than the preceding one i.s 64 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. that of elevating the collar of the plant somewhat above the level of the earth in the ordinary pot by means of half- buried stones, as shown in the cut on page 63. In this way we not only raise the collar of the plant so that it is less liable to suffer from moisture, but, by prevent- ing evaporation, preserve conditions much more congenial to alpine plants, and keep the roots firm in the ground; besides, the small plants look more at home springing from and spreading over their little rocks. It should, however, be distinctly understood that no such attention is required by the great majority of alpine plants. No matter in what way these plants may be grown in gardens, it is desirable to keep the duplicates and young stock in small pots plunged in sand or fine coal-ashes, so that they may be carefully removed to the rockwork, or sent Bed of small Alpine Plants in pots plunged in sand. away at any time. The best way of doing this is shown in the accompanying illustration, which represents a four-foot bed in which young alpine jilants are plunged in sand, the bed being edged with half-buried bricks. In bottoms of beds of this kind there should be half-a-dozen inches of coal-ashes, so as to prevent worms getting into the pots, in which they always prove very injurious. Sand, or grit, or fine gravel, from its cleanliness and the ease with which the plants may be plunged in it, is to be preferred, but finely sifted coal-ashes will do if sand cannot be spared for this purpose. Such beds should always be in the full sun, near to a Part I. ALPI-VE PLANTS FROM SEED. 65 good supply of water, and, if several or many are made, should be separated by gravelled alleys of about two feet wide. The watering is very important. In a large nursery it should be laid on and given with a fine hose. This certainly is the most convenient and economical way. Over some of the beds in Mr. Backhouse's nursery at York may be seen an ingenious way of giving a constant supply of water to Primulas, Gentians, and other plants. Two perforated / -■^"- '• s," A^ v-, half-inch copper pipes are laid c-'^^^^^^^^^^^.^ just above the plants in the beds ''■^^^^^^^^^^^"^ as shown in the cut. From the '^y3JWp^^wi''ip*-''^^^' perforations in every two feet or ^^^ ^^^^ sau,^te7by perforated so of the pipe, drops contuiualiy pipes, trickle down in summer, satura- ting the beds of sand, and of course the porous pots and their contents. In winter or very wet weather the water can be readily turned off. I do not believe there is any necessity for this system, provided the water is laid on and applied copiously with a fine hose. ALPINE PLANTS FROM SEED. A large number of alpine plants may be raised from seed, and in every place where there is a collection, it is desirable to sow the seeds of as many rare and new kinds as are worth raising in this way. A good deal will depend on the appliances of the garden as to the precise way in which they are to be raised ; but Avhether there be greenhouses on the premises or not even a glass hand-light, alpine plants and choice perennials may be raised there in abundance. Supposing we are supplied with a good selection of seeds in early spring, and have room to spare in frames and pits, some time might be gained by sowing in pans or pots, and by placing them in those frames, or by making a very gentle hotbed in a frame or pit, covering it with four inches or so of very light earth, and sowing the seeds on that. If this mode be adopted, they may be sown in March ; and, thus treated, many will flower the first year. In gardens with- out any glass they may be raised in the open air. The best time to sow is in April, choosing mild open weather, 5 66 ALPIXE FLOWERS. Tart I. when the ground is more likely to be in the comparatively dry and friable condition so desirable for seed-sowing. But it should be borne in mind that they may be sown at any convenient time from April till August, as it is not till the year after they are sown that they display their full beauty or perhaps flower at all ; and, therefore, should a packet or more of choice seed come to hand during the summer months, it is always better to sow it at once than to keep it till the following spring, as thereby nearly a whole season is lost. Those who already possess a collection of good hardy flowers may find a choice perennial — say, for instance, an evergreen Jberis, a Campanula, or a Delphinium — ripening a crop of seed in May, June, or July. Well, suppose we want to pro- pagate and make the most of it, the true w-ay is to sow it at once instead of keeping it over the winter, as is usually done. By winter, the seedlings will be strong enough to take care of themselves, and be ready to plant out for flowering wherever it may be desired to place them. As to the immediate subject of raising them in spring, we will suppose the seeds provided, and the month of April to have arrived. If not already done, a border or bed should be prepared for them in an open but sheltered and warm position, and where the soil is naturally light and fine, or made so by artificial means. It would be as well to prepare and devote two or three, or more, little beds to this puri)ose of raising hardy flowers. They would form a most useful nursery-like kind of reserve ground, from which plants could be taken at any time to fill up vacancies, to exchange with those having collections, and to give away to friends ; for assuredly it is one of the greatest pleasures of gardening to be able to give away a young specimen to a friend who hajjpens to see and admire one of our " good things " in flower ; and by raising them from seed we can always do this with ease. I have said that the seed-bed should be in a warm position, but let it, if possible, be in or near what is often called the reserve-garden in large places, or, in smaller, in the kitchen-garden — anywhere but in the ])ortion of the gardens devoted to ornament. If the ground happen not to be naturally fine, light, and open, make it so by adding ])lenty of sand and leaf-mould, and then surface it with a few inches of fine soil from the compost-yard or ])otting- shed. The sifted refuse of the potting-bench will do well. Part I. ALPINE I'LAXTS FROM SEED. 67 Then level the beds, and form little shallow drills in them for the reception of the seed. Let the beds be about four feet v\fide, with a little footway or alley between each about fifteen inches wide, and let them run from the back to the front of the border, not along it. Make the little drills across the beds, and, instead of making these drills with a hoe or anything of the kind, simply take a rake handle, a measuring rod, or anything perfectly straight that happens to be at hand, and, laying it across the little bed, ])ress it gently down till it leaves a smooth im- pression about one inch deep. Do this at intervals of about six inches, and thjn your little nursery bed is ready for the seed. From these smooth and level diills the seeds will spring up evenly and regularly. Before opening the seed packets, it is necessary to have clearly written wooden labels at hand on which to write the name of each species, so that there may be no con- fusion when the plants come up. These labels should be about eight or nine inches long, and an inch wide, and the name should be written as near the upper end as possible, so that it may not be soon obUterated by contact with the moist earth. Now, this labelling process is usually performed in all such cases at the time of sowing the seeds, but a very much speedier and better way is to lay out all the seeds on a table some wet day when out-of-door work cannot be done, and there and then arrange them in the order of sowing. Write a label for each kind, tie the packet of seeds up with a piece of bast, and then, when a fine dav arrives for sowing them, it can be done in a very short time. In sowing, put in at the end of the first little drill the label of the kmd to be sown first, then sow the seed, inserting the label for the following kind at the spot to which the seed of the first has reached, and so on. Thus there can be no doubt as to the name of a species when the same plan is pursued throughout. Near at hand, during the sowing, should be placed a barrow of finely-sifted earth ; with this the seeds should be covered more or less heavily according to size, and then well watered from a very fine rose. Minute seed like that of Campanula will require but a mere dust of the sifted earth to cover it. Once sown, the rest may be left to nature, save and except the keeping down of weeds, the seeds of which 68 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. abound in the earth in all places, and will be pretty sure to come up among the young plants. But these being in drills, we can easily tell the plant from the weed, and nothing is required but a little persevering weeding. In these httle beds the finest perennials will come up beauti- fully, and may be left exactly where sown till the time arrives for transplanting them to the rockery, spring garden, or mixed border. This is a better way than sowing in pots, where they are liable to much vicissitude, and from which they require to be " potted ofif." Of course in the case of a very rare or admired kind, the seedlings might be thinned a little and the thinnings dibbled into a nursery bed, but, by sowing rather thinly, the plants will be quite at home where first sown till the time arrives for planting them out finally. I am convinced that in finely pulverised earth, with, if convenient, an inch or so of cocoa-fibre and sand between the drills to prevent the ground getting hard and dry, much better results will be obtained than by sowing in pots. In the open air they come up much more vigorously, and never suffer from transplantation or change of temperature afterwards. Nevertheless, as few will venture the very finest and rarest kinds of seed in the open air, how to treat them in frames is of some importance, and the following observations on this matter are by Mr. Niven, of the Hull Botanic Garden, one of the most successful cultivators of alpine plants, and who possesses, chiefly in pots, one of the most complete collections ever made. I'hey were communi- cated to the "Gardener's Chronicle." " Much disappointment is often experienced in raising the seeds of perennial plants, and blame is attributed to the vendor of the seeds, that ought in reality to be awarded nearer home. Presuming that the selection of the seeds is made, and that the seeds themselves are in the hands of the purchaser, the operation of sowing should take place as early as may be practicable in March. First of all, the requisite number of five or six-inch pots should be obtained, so that each seed packet can have a separate pot for itself. Some nice light soil, mixed with a fair amount of sand and leaf-mould (if obtainable), should be prepared, and passed through a coarse sieve, keeping a shar[) eye after worms, and at once removing them ; the rough part which Part I. ALPIXE PLA XTS FROM SEED. 69 remains in the sieve should be placed above the drainage in the bottom of the pots to the extent of two-thirds of the depth, filling the remaining third with the fine soil ; the whole should then be well pressed down, so that the surface for the reception of the seeds may be half an inch below the brim of the pot, and tolerably even. Each packet of seed should then be sown, and covered with a sprinkling of fine soil, which should be pressed down by means of a flat piece of wood, or, what will be perhaps more readily available, by the bottom of a flower-pot. " The best guide as to the thickness of covering required is to arrange so that no seeds shall be seen on the surface after the operation. If the seeds are minute, a very small quantity will be required to attain this end ; if they are large, more will be requisite. This completed, and each pot duly labelled with the name of the plant and height of growth, the pots should then be placed in a cold frame tolerably near the glass, taking care that each pot is set level or as nearly so as practicable. " In preparing the frame for their reception, it is desirable to have a good thickness of lime-rubbish in the bottom, say from nine to twelve- inches deep, as a protection against worms. " Many seeds come up a long time after others ; in fact, seed-pots are often thrown away in the supposition that the seeds are dead, when they are perfectly sound; and some will come up a year or so after being sown. All that is necessary with the seeds that do not come up during the spring is to give them occasional watering, and to guard against the growth of the Linchen-like Marchantia. This is Irequently a great pest in damp localities, and is only to be kept in check by carefully removing it on its first appear- ance, for if allowed to make too much headway, any attempt at removal carries away the surface soil, and with it the seeds. In the month of October each pot should be sur- faced with a sprinkling of fine soil, well pressed down ; in fact, the process before described after sowing should be repeated. The pots may remain in the frame till the spring, nor should they be despaired of altogether till May or June, or in some instances later. " To those who may not have the advantage of a cold frame to carry out the foregoing instructions, I would still 70 ALPINE FLOWERS. Tart I. recommend the use of flower-pots rather than sowing in the open ground ; but under these circumstances I would say — sow one month later ; place the pots in a warm sunny corner, and arrange some simple contrivance so that you can shade with mats during hot sunshine, and also cover up at night, -in order to keep ofif heavy rains ; the same care in watering should be observed, and the same watchful eye after snails, woodlice, and other depredators, should be maintained. " So much for the seeds in their seed-pots. Now a word or two as to the treatment of the plants afterwards. My practice is to pot off, as soon as they are sufficiently strong to handle, as many as are required, in three or four-inch pots, say three in each pot. In these they will grow well during the summer, and become thoroughly rooted, ready for consigning to their final habitat, be it rockery, border, or shrubbery, in the early part of spring, after the borders have been roughly raked over ; thus giving them ample time to establish themselves before autumn arrives, and their enemy, the spade, is likely to come in their way. Failing a supply of pots sufficient for all, some of the stronger-growing ones may be planted in a sheltered bed of light soil, care being taken to shade them for a few days after being planted ; or a few old boxes, five or six inches deep, may be used with even greater advantage for the same purpose, as they may readily be moved from the shady side of a wall to a more sunny locality after they have sufficiently recovered the pro- cess of transplanting ; and, finally, they may receive the shelter of a cold frame as soon as winter sets in. This recommendation must not be considered as indicative of their inability to stand the cold weather, but as a preven- tive of the mechanical action of frost, which, in some soils especially, is apt to loosen their root-hold, and force the young plants, roots and all, to the surface. "In the case of the smaller-growing al pines, such as the Drabas, Arabises, etc., I generally find that they stand the first winter best in pots of the smallest size, and in this form they may be the more readily inserted in interstices of a rockery, where they will permanently establish them- selves." Watering. — Than this question there is nothing of more importance in connection with our subject. The popular Part I. ALPLYE PLANTS FROM SEED. 7r and erroneous notion that alpine plants want shade ari'^es Irom the fact that those placed in the shade do not perish so soon from drought as those in the sun. The reason that alpine plants perish so soon on bare flower-borders, the surface of which may be saturated with rain one day and be as dry as snuff the next, at least to the depths to which the roots of a small or young alpine plant would penetrate, is therefore very easily accounted for. Matted through a soft carpet of short grass in their native hills, or rooted deeply between stones and chinks, they can stand many degrees more heat than they ever encounter in this country. As a rule,- it is impossible to water them too freely if the drainage be good, which of course it will be in a well-formed rock- garden. To have the water laid on and applied thoroughly and regularly with a hne hose is the best plan in districts not naturally very moist, and where there is a large rock- garden ; small rockworks may be supplied in the ordinary way from pots or barrels, and in some parts of the country the natural moisture will suffice. Some lay small copper pipes through the masses and to the highest points of the rock, allowing the water to gently trickle from these, but, except in special cases, the plan is not so good as the hose. It may, however, be worth adopting for one spot in which Gentiana bavarica and other plants that like abundant moisture are planted. Whatever system be adopted, the rule should be : Never water unless you thoroughly saturate the soil, say with from one and a half to two inches deep of water over the whole surface. As a rule, ambitious, wall- like, erect masses of rockwork require half-a-dozen times as much water as those constructed on a proper principle with plenty of soil so arranged that it is saturated by the rains. Indeed, nothing but ceaseless watering could preserve plants, even for a short time, in a healthy state on the rockwork commonly made. As regards the time of watering, it is a matter of very little importance, though for convenience' sake it is better not done in the heat of the day. The really important point is to see that it is equably and thoroughly done. 72 ALPINE FLOWERS. . Part I. PLANTING. There is a mischievous way of planting almost every kind of small plant, which is particularly injurious in the case of the hardy orchids (whose roots are easily injured), and of all rare hardy plants. I refer to the practice of making a hole for the plant, and after a little soil has been shaken over the roots, pressing heavily with the fingers over the roots and near the neck of the unfortunate subject. What is meant will be understood from fig. 2, if the reader assumes that there is a little soil between the fingers and the roots. Where the roots are not all broken off in this way, many of them are mutilated, or those near the collar of the plant are thrust deeper into the earth. Not unfrequently plants perish from this cause. The right way, after preparing the ground, is, to make it firm and level, and then make a little cut or trench. 'I'he side of this trench should be firm and smooth, and the plant placed against it, the roots spread out, and the neck of the plant set just at the proper level, as in fig. I. Then a goocl deal of the fine earth of the little trench is to be thrown against the roots, and as much lateral pressure applied as may be necessary to make the whole quite firm. Once the subject is carefully planted, as much surface-pressure as you like may be given. In this way not a fibre of the most fragile plant will be injured. This, of course, only applies to subjects not planted with balls, and is the best way to plant them. THE BOG-GARDEN. The bog-garden is a home for the numerous children of the wild that will not thrive on our harsh, bare, and dry garden borders, but must be cushioned on moss, and associated Part I. THE BOG-GARDEA\ 73 with their own relatives in moist peat soil. Many beautiful plants, like the Wind Gentian and Creeping Harebell, grow on our own bogs and marshes, much as these are now encroached upon. But even those acquainted with the beauty of the plants of our own bogs have, as a rule, but a feeble notion of the multitude of charming plants, natives of northern and temperate countries, whose home is the open marsh or boggy wood. In our own country, we have been so long encroaching upon the bogs and wastes that some of us come to regard them as exceptional tracts all over the v,-orld. But when one travels in new countries in northern climes, one soon learns what a vast extent of the world's surface was at one time covered with bogs. In North America day after day, even by the margins of the railroads, one sees the vivid blooms of the Cardinal-flower springing erect from the wet peaty hollows. Far under the shady woods stretch the black bog-pools, the ground between being so shaky that you move a few steps with difficulty. One wonders how the trees exist with their roots in such a bath. And where the forest vegetation disappears the American Pitcher-plant {Sarraccnia), Golden Club ( Oro/itiutn), Water Arum ( Ca/Ia Faiiisiris), and a host of other handsome and interesting bog-plants cover the ground for hundreds of acres, with perhaps an occasional slender bush of Laurel Magnolia {^Magiiolia glaucd) among them. In some parts of Canada, where the painfully long and straight roads are often made through woody swamps and where the itw scattered and poor habitations offer little to cheer the traveller, he will, if a lover of plants, find con- servatories of beauty in the ditches and pools of black water beside the road, fringed with the sweet-scented Button-bush, with a profusion of royal and other stately ferns, and often filled with masses of the pretty Sagittarias. Southwards and seawards, the bog-flowers become tropical in size and brilliancy, as in the splendid kinds of herbaceous Hibiscus^ while far north, and west, and south along the mountains, the beautiful and showy Mocassin-flower [Cypri- pcdium spcctabile) grows the queen of the peat bog and of hardy orchids. Then in California, all along the Sierras, you see a number of most delicate little annual plants grow- ing in small mountain bogs long after the plains have become quite parched, and annual vegetation has quite disappeared 74 A L FIXE FLOWERS. Part I. Part I. THE BOG-GARDEN. 75 from them. But who shall record the beauty and interest of the flowers of the wide-spreading marsh-lands of this globe of ours, from those of the vast wet woods of America, dark and brown, and hidden from the sunbeams, where the fair flowers only meet the eyes of water-snakes and frogs, to those of the breezy uplands of the high Alps, far above the woods, where the little bogs teem with Nature's most brilliant jewellery, joyous in a bright sun, and dancing in the breeze? No one worthily ; for many mountain-swamp regions are as yet as little known to us as those of the Himalaya, with their giant Primroses and many strange and lovely flowers. One thing, however, we may gather from our small experi- ences— that many plants commonly termed "alpine," and found on high mountains, are true bog-plants. 'I'his must be clear to anyone who has seen our pretty Bird's-eye Prim- rose in the wet mountain-side bogs of Westmoreland, or the Bavarian Gentian in the spongy soil by alpine rivulets, or the Gentianella {Gcnfiana ac-au/is) in the snow ooze. We enjoy at our doors the plants of hottest tropical isles, but many wrongly think the rare bog-plants, like the minute alpine plants, cannot be grown well in gardens. Like the rock-garden, the bog-garden is rarely or never seen properly made and embellished with its most suitable ornaments. Indeed, bog-gardens of any kind are very rare, and only attempted by an individual here and there, who usually confines them to the accommodation of a few plants found in the neighbouring bogs. I will now proceed to point out how these may be made with a certainty of success. In some places, naturally boggy spots may be found which may be readily converted into a home for some of the sub- jects to be named hereafter. But in most places an artificial bog is the only possible one. It should only be made in a, picturesque part of the grounds. It may be associated with a rock-garden with good eftect, or it may be in a moist hollow, or may touch upon the margins of a pond or lake. By the margins of streamlets, too, little bogs may be made with excellent taste. A tiny streamlet may be diverted from the main one to flow over the adjacent grass — irrigation on a small scale. No better bog than this can be devised, and none so easily made. Another very good kind could be made at the outlet of a small spring. It was in such little bogs that I found the Californian Pitcher-plant in dry parts 76 ALFIXE FLOWERS. Part I. of California, where tliere were no large bogs. In some of these positions the ground will often be so moist that little trouble beyond digging out a hole to give a diflerent soil to some favourite plant will be needed. Where the bog has to be made in ordinary ground, and with none of the above aids, a hollow must be dug to a depth of at least two feet, and filled in with any kind of peat or vegetable soil that may be obtainable. If no peat is at hand, turfy loam with plenty of leaf-mould, etc., must do for the general body of the soil ; but, as there are some plants for which peat is indispensable, a small portion of the bog-bed should be composed entirely of that soil. The bed should be slightly below the surface of the ground, so that no rain or moisture may be lost to it. There should be no puddling of the bottom, and there must be a constant supply of water. This can be supplied by means of a pipe in most places — a pipe allowed to flow forth over some firmly- tufted plant that would prevent the water from tearing up the soil. As to planting the select artificial bog, all that is needed is to put as many of the undermentioned subjects in it as can be obtained, and to avoid planting in it any rapid-running sedge or other plant, or all satisfaction with the bog is at an end. Numbers of Carexes and like plants grow so rapidly and densely that they soon exterminate all the beautiful boa-plants. If any roots of sedges, etc., are brought in with the peat, every blade they send up should be cut off with the knife just below the surface ; that is, if the weed cannot be pulled up on account of being too near some precious subject one does not like to disturb. All who wish to grow the tall sedges and other coarse bog-plants should do so by the pond-side, or in one or more moist or watery places set apart for the purpose. Given the neces- sary conditions as to soil and water, I can testify that the success of the bog-garden will depend on the continuous care bestowed in preventing rapidly-growing or coarse plants from exterminating others, or from taking such a hold in the soil that it becomes impossible to grow any delicate or minute plant in it. Couch and all weeds should be exter- minated when very young and small. The following are the bog and marsh plants at present most worthy of culture ; but there are numbers not yet in cultivation, equally lovely. Part I. HARDY AQUATIC PLANTS. 77 A selection of choice Bog- Plants. Anagailis tenella ; Butomus umbellatus ; Calla palustris : Caltha in var. ; Campanula hederacea ; Chrysobactron Hookeri; Coptis trifolia ; Cornus canadensis; Crinum ca- pense ; Cypripedium spectabile ; Drosera in var. ; Epipactis palustris ; Galax aphylla ; Gentiana Pneumonanthe ; Helo- nias bullata ; Hydrocotyle bonariensis ; Iris graminea, Mon- nieri, ochroleuca, sibirica ; Leucojum jestivuni, Hernandezii ; Linnasa borealis ; Parnassia palustris ; Lobelia syphilitica ; Lycopodium in var. ; Menyanthes trifoliata ; Myosotis dis- sitiflora, palustris; Nierembergia rivularis; Orchis latifolia and vars., laxiflora, maculata ; Orontium aquaticum ; Pin- guicula in var. ; Primula Munroi, sikkimensis, farinosa, Rhexia virginica ; Sagittaria in var. ; Sarracenia purpurea ; Saxifraga Hirculus ; Spigelia marilandica ; Svvertia perennis ; Tofieldia in var. ; Tradescantia virginica ; Trillium ; Lastrea Thelypteris. The above are most suitable for the select bog-bed kept for the most beautiful, rare, and delicate plants ; and among these, as has been stated, should be planted nothing which cannot be readily kept within bounds. To them lovers of British plants might like to add such native plants as Malaxis paludosa ; but it is better, as a rule, to select the finest, no matter whence they come. Some may doubt if the American Pitcher-plant, {Sarracenia purpurea, )vio\x\d prove hardy in the open air in this country. It certainly is so, as one might expect from its high northern range in America. It will thrive in the wettest part of the bog-garden. In America I usually observed the Pitchers halt buried in the water and sphagnum, the roots being in water. In British gardens it usually perishes from want of water. HARDY AQUATIC PLANTS. As ornamental water and aquatic plants are often inti- mately associated with rock and bog-gardens, something requires to be said of the most desirable water-plants. A great deal of beauty may be added to the margins, and here and there to the surface, of ornamental water, by the use of a good collection of hardy aquatics arranged with some taste, but, so far as I have seen, this has not yet been 78 ALPIXE FLOWERS. Part I. fairly attempted by any designer of a garden or piece of water. Usually you see the same monotonous vegetation all round the margin if the soil be rich ; in some cases, where the bottom is of gravel, there is little or no vegetation, but The White Water Lily. an unbroken ugly line of washed earth between wind and water. In others, water-plants accumulate till they are a nuisance and an eyesore — I do not mean the submerged ])lants like Anacharts, but such as the Water Lilies, when they get matted. Now a well-developed plant or group of ])lants of the queenly Water Lily, floating its large leaves and noble flowers, is a sight not surpassed by any other in our gardens ; but when it increases and runs over the whole or a large part of a piece of water, — thickening together and being in consequence weakened, — and the fowl cannot make their way through it, then even the queen of British water- plants loses its charms. No garden water, however, should ht without a few fine plants or groups of the Water Lily, and if the bottom did not allow of the free development of the plant, scrapings or rubbish might be accumulated in the spot where it was desired to exhibit the beauties of J\/ymphcea. Thus arranged, it would not spread too much. But it is not difficult to prevent the plant from spreading ; indeed we have known isolated plants and groups of it remain of almost the same size for years, and where it increases too much, reduction to the desired limits is of very easy accom- plishment, either by cutting oft" the leaves or getting at the roots in the bottom. The Yellow Water Lily, Nuphar iuiea, though not so beautiful as the preceding, is worthy of a place ; and also the little N'. puinila, a variety or sub-species found in the Part I. IIARDY AQUATIC PLANTS. 'jc) lakes of the North of Scotland. Then there is the fine and large ^\^ advcna (a native of N. America), which pushes its leaves boldly above the water, and is very vigorous in habit. It is very plentiful in the Manchester Botanic Garden, and The Yellow Water Lily. will be found to some extent in most gardens of the same kind. The American White Water Lily (M adorata) is a noble species wnich would prove quite hardy in Britain. In collecting these things, the true and the only way is to get as many as possible from ordinary sources at first, and then exchange with others having collections, whether they be the curators of botanic gardens or private gentlemen fond of interesting plants. With a little perseverance, many good things may scon be collected in this way. One of the prettiest effects I have ever observed was afforded by a sheet of Villarsia nymphceoides belting round the margin of a lake near a woody recess, and beyond it, more towards the deep water, a fine group of Water Lilies. The beauty of this Villarsia is too seldom seen in garden waters. It is a charming little water-plant, with its Nymphaea-like leaves and numerous golden-yellow flowers, which furnish a beautiful effect on fine days under a bright sun. It is not very commonly distributed as a native plant, though, where found, it is generally very plentiful, and not difficult to obtain in gardens where aquatic plants are grown. It is in all respects one of the most serviceable of hardy water-plants. 8o ALPIXE FLOWERS. Part I. Not rare — growing, in fact, in nearly all districts of Britain — but exquisitely beautiful and singular, is the Buck- bean or INIarsh Trefoil {Mcuyanthes trifo/iata), with flowers elegantly and singularly fringed on the inside with white filaments, and the round unopened buds blushing on the top with a rosy red like that of an apple-blossom. In early summer, when seen trailing in the soft ground near the margin of a stream, this plant has more charms for me than any other marsh-plant. It will grow in a bog or any moist place, or by the margin of any water. Though a rather common native plant, it is not half sufficiently grown in its garden waters. For grace and singularity combined, nothing can surpass Eqiiisetiun Teli?iateia, which, in deep soil, in shady and sheltered places near water, often grows several feet high, the long, close-set, slender branches de- pending from each whorl in a singularly graceful man- ner. It grows in many parts of England, but does not penetrate far into Scotland, and may be seen finely developed against the wall near the fernery in thi; Oxford Botanic Garden : I doubt not that many who see it there conclude it to be a foreigner, so distinct is it from our ordinary native vegetation. For a bold and picturesque plant on the margin of water nothing equals the great Water Dock {Rtmiex Hydro- lapathum), which is rather generally dispersed over the British Isles \ it has leaves quite subtropical in aspect and size, becoming of a lurid red in the autumn. It forms a grand mass of foliage on rich muddy banks. The Typhas must not be omitted, but they should not be allowed to run ever)^where. The narrow-leaved one (Z! angnstifolia) The Great Water Dock. Tart I. HARDY AQUATIC PLANTS. 8l is more graceful than the common one ( T. latifolid). Carex pendula is excellent for the margins of water, its elegant drooping spikes being quite distinct in their way. It is rather common in England, more so than Carex Pseudo- ivperus, which grows well in a foot or two of water or on the margin of a muddy pond. Carex paniculata forms a strong and thick stem, sometimes three or four feet high, somewhat like a tree-fern, and with luxuriant masses of drooping leaves, and on that account is transferred to moist places in gardens, and cultivated by some, though generally these large specimens are difticult to remove and soon perish. Scirpus laaistris (the Bulrush) is too distinct a plant to be omitted, as its stems, sometimes attaining a height of more than seven and even eight feet, look very imposing ; and Cyperus longus is also a desirable plant, reminding one of the aspect of the Papyrus when in flower. It is found in some of the southern counties of England. Poa aquatica might also be used. Cladium Mariscus is also another distinct and rather scarce British aquatic which is worth a place. If one chose to enumerate the plants that grow in British and European waters, a very long list might be made, but the enumeration and recommendation of those which possess no distinct character or no beauty of flower are precisely what I wish to avoid, believing that it is only by a judicious selection of the very best kinds that horticulture of this kind can give satisfaction ; therefore, omitting a host of incon- spicuous water-weeds, I will endeavour to indicate all others of real worth. Those who have seen the flowering Rush {Butoiniis mnbellatus) in flower, are not likely to omit it from a collection of water-plants, as it is conspicuous and distinct. It is a native of the greater part of Europe and Russian Asia, and is dispersed over the central and southern parts of England and Ireland. Plant it not far from the margin, as it likes rich muddy soil. The common Sagiftaria, very frequent in England and Ireland, but not in Scotland, might be associated with this; but there is a very much finer double exotic kind to be had here and there, which is really a hand- some plant, its flowers being white, and resembling, but larger than, those of the old white double Rocket. This I once saw in abundance in the pleasure gardens of the Rye House 6 82 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. at Broxbourne, where it filled a sort of oblong basin or wide ditch, and looked quite attractive when in flower. It has the peculiarity of forming large egg-shaped tubers, or rather receptacles of farina, and I have found that in searching for these, ducks, or something of the kind, have destroyed the plants. This makes me suspect that it might prove a useful plant for feeding wild fowl, and that it might be worthy of trial in that way. No native water-plant that I am acquainted with has anything like such a store of farina as is laid up in the tubers of this plant. Calla pahis- tris is a beautiful bog-plant, and I know nothing that pro- duces a more pleasing effect over a bit of rich, soft, boggy ground. It will also grow by the side of water. Calla af/iiopica, the well-known and beautiful "Lily of the Nile," is hardy enough in some places if planted rather deep, and in nearly all it may be stood out for the summer; but except in quiet waters, in the South of England and Ireland, I doubt if it would make any progress. However, as it is a plant so commonly cultivated, it may be tried without loss in favourable positions. The pine-like Water Soldier {Stratiofes aloidcs) is so distinct that it is worthy of a place; there is a pond quite full of this plant at Tooting, and it is common in the fens. It is allied to the Frogbit {Hydrocharis Morsus-7-ana), which, like the si^ecies of Water Ranunculi and some other fast-growing and fast-disappearing families, I must not here particularise ; they cannot be "established " permanently in one spot like the other plants mentioned. The tufted Loose-strife {Lysiniachia thyrsifiora) flourishes on wet banks and ditches, and in a foot or two of water. It is curiously beautiful when in flower ; rather scarce as a British plant, but found in the North of England and in Scotland. Pofitcdaia cordata is a stout, firm-rooting, and perfectly hardy water-herb, with erect and distinct habit, and blue flowers ; not difiicult to obtain from botanic garden or nur- sery. There is a small Sweet-flag {Acorns grat/iiueiis) which is worth a place, and has also a well variegated variety, while the common Acorus, or Sweet-flag, will be associated with the Water Iris (/. Pseud-acorus), the rather ornamental Water Plantain {Aiisiiia Plantagd), and the pretty A/is?/ia rauiinculoides. if it can be procured ; it is not nearly so common as the Water Plantain. The pretty and interesting little Star Damasonium of the southern and eastern coun- Tart I. HARDY AQUATIC PLAyTS. 83 ties of England is very interesting, but, being an annual, is not to be recommended to any but those who desire to make a full collection, and who could and would provide a special spot for the more minute and delicate kinds. In such a spot, or even in the basin of a fountain, where they should be safely watched from being choked by larger weeds, the very tiny and pretty yellow Water Lily, Nuphar Kalmia?ia, the little vt^hite JSymphcea odorata, Lobelia Dort/nanna, and not a few others, might be grown. The Water Lobelia does not seem to thrive away from the shallow parts of the northern lakes, getting choked by the numerous water weeds. Apo?iogdon distachyon is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, a singularly pretty plant, which is nearly hardy enough for our climate generally, and, from its sweetness and curious beauty, a most desirable plant to cultivate either in a basin or fountain in the greenhouse, or in a warm spot in the open air. It is largely grown in one or two places in the south, and it nearly covers the surface of the only bit of water in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden with its long green leaves, among which the sweet flowers float abundantly. The curator of the garden accounts for the plant doing so well by the fact that there are springs in the bottom of the water .which, to some extent, elevate its temperature. In any sort of a greenhouse or conservatory aquarium, where it may have room to develop itself, it is one of the loveliest of water-plants. In the open air, plant it rather deep in a clean spot and in good soil, and see that the long and soft leaves are not injured either by water- fowl or any other cause. The Water Ranunculi, which sheet 6ver our pools in spring and early summer with such silvery beauty, are not worth an attempt at cultivation, so rambling are they ; and the same applies to not a i^w other things of interest. Orontium aquaticuin is a scarce and handsome aquatic for a choice collection, but as beautiful as any is the Water Violet {Hottonia palustris). It occurs most frequently in the eastern and central districts of England and Ireland. The best example of it that I have seen was on an expanse of soft mud near Lea Bridge, in Essex. It covered the muddy surface with a sheet of dark fresh green, and must have looked better in that position than when in water, though doubtless the place was occa- sionally flooded. Polygoiiinn ainpJdbium and P. Hydropiper 84 ALPINE FLOWERS, Part I. frequently flower prettily by the side of streams and ponds, while the Marsh yi2iX\go\<\ {Caltha pabistris), that "shines like fire in swamps and hollows grey," will burnish the margin with a glory of colour which no exotic flower could surpass. A suitable companion for this Caltha is the very large and showy Rantinculiis Lingua., which grows in rich ground to a height of three feet or more. It is not scarce and yet not common — locally distributed, in fact. Lythrum roseuni superbum, a beautifully coloured variety of the common purple Loose-strife, and Epilohiian hirsittiwi, are two large and fine plants for the water-side. WHAT TO AVOID. In the selection of a few illustrations shoAving on what a mistaken principle, and with what deplorable taste, rockwork is generally made, my first intention was to have had them all engraved from drawings taken in various gardens, pub- lic and private ; but as this course might have proved an invidious one, I have preferred to take most of them from our best books on Horticulture — the works of our highest authorities, Loudon, Macintosh, and others. From these the reader may glean some idea of popular notions on this subject, and it is scarcely needful to add that, if such ridiculous objects occur in our most trustworthy books, they must be yet more absurd in many gardens. The first simple beauty is copied from the frontis- piece of a small book on alpine plants, published not many years ago. Grow- ing naturally on the high mountains, unveiled from the sun by wood or copse, alpine plants are grouped be a Aveeping willow — a What to av..iid. Frontispiece of a book on Alpine Plants. here beneath what appears to Part I. WHAT TO AVOID. 85 position in which they could not possibly attain anything like their native vigour and beauty, or do otherwise than lead a sickly existence. The degree of contentment and delight felt by the artist for his subject is shown by his planting the ponderous vase in the centre of the group, and the introduction of the railing is quite beyond all praise. A few blacking pots or pieces of broken crockery are all that is needed to make the group complete. One of the commonest forms which rockwork is made to assume is that of a rustic arch ; and the following illustration, copied from Loudon, is less hideous than numbers that may be seen about London, Fre- quently they are formed of burrs, and occasionally of clinkers, but even if composed of the finest stone obtainable, they are utterly useless for the growth of alpine vegetation. How many Saxifra- ges, or Pinks, or Primroses, would find a home on such a structure planted in a part of the Alps highly favour- able to vegetation ? Probably not one, and should a few succulents establish themselves on its lower flanks, they would in all probability perish from heat and drought if their roots had not a free course to the earth beneath. Even persons with some experience of plant life may be seen sticking plants over such objects as these, as if their tender roots were capable of bearing as many vicissitudes of heat and cold as a piece of copper wire. The fact that ])lants push their roots far into masses of old brickwork is no justification for the rustic arch as a home for alpine flowers. If the cement, burrs, and clinkers permitted them even to enter it, they have nothing of any kind into which to descend. There is rarely an excuse for constructing such arches ; where they occur, they should be completely clothed with Ivy or other vigorous climbers : the expense necessary to construct one would suffice for one of the simpler types of rock-garden already described. The sketch on page 86, taken not long since at Ham- mersmith, shows something of the harsh, bare, and unnatural What to avoid. Rustic Arch (after Loudon)- 86 ALPIXE FLOWERS. Part I. effect of structures of this sort. The grotesque figure who presides at the archway is in admirable keeping with the What to avoid. Rockwork in Villa at Hammersmith. hybrid mixture of architecture and "rockwork" which is there exhibited. The next scene is one in which a miniature representation of various mountains is attempted. Efforts of this kind usually end ridiculously, except when carried out at a vast expense. Let us succeed with a few square yards of stony mountain turf and flowers before we attempt to de- lineate all the mountains of a continent. A few hundred yards in length or even a single nook of many an alpine valley is often sufficient to impress the traveller with wonder and awe. We can- not therefore help admiring the boldness of those who try their hand even at a solitary alp. The next illustration shows a rockwork and fountain in what we may call the true mixed style— huge shells, " cas- cades," and " rockwork." How any such object can be conceived to be in any sense ornamental is not easily explained, but it has been extracted as a model from a work of authority. In the fulness of time, no doubt, such abominations will be suppressed by act of parliament ; but W'hat to avoid. All the Alp.s seen from the hall- door (after Macintosh). Part I. WHAT TO AVOID. 87 Wliat to avoid. Fountain and Rockwork (after Loudon). as many foolish persons will continue to erect them in the mean time, let us beg of them not in any way to associate them with alpine flowers. Even if it were pos- sible to induce these to luxuriate on such a structure, they would merely serve to spoil the unity of the design. Our ne.xt figure shows a truly laud- able attack upon monotony. The tall stones are to the smaller ones as the Lombardy Poplar is to his round- headed brothers of the grove. The front margin of this graceful scene consists of two rows of prostrate and one row of erect clinkers, and is much less irregular and more hideous than the engraver has had the heart to make it. The back wall is of a very common t)pe, and precisely of that texture on which alpine plants will not exist. This cut is not extracted from the great books of Loudon or of Macintosh ; it is a compara- tively recent improvement, and was sketched not long since in a botanic garden not one hundred miles from London. Mrs. Loudon's design, while not so repulsive as some of the others, shows in its elevated nodding head the tendency to make such arrangements con- spicuously offensive by raising them too high proportionately, and by so placing the stones that the rain cannot nourish the plants. Like the arches, such structures as this should in all cases be covered with Ivy, or some kindly veil of vegetation. It should be noted that when rocks or stones are properly placed in the rock-garden, they do not require any cementing, but are surrounded by and placed on moist stony earth or grit, inviting to every fibre of the root that descends. From this we may deduce the rule — Rockwork consisting of stones cemented together is utterly bad in all respects. What to avoid. " Infandi scopuli " (after ). Rockwork (after Mrs. Loudon). 88 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. A distinction should, however, be here drawn between this variety and that in which a shell of artificial rock, so con- structed as to resemble natural strata, is made to contain rich bodies of earth suitable for Clematises, Rhododendrons, etc. A variety is occasionally seen bordering drives, often with large stones arranged in porcupine-quill fashion, and showing a dentate ridge of rocks springing up close from each side of the drive for a considerable length near the entrance gate. This may be described as the style danger- ous for coachmen on dark nights, or, indeed, at any time when a swerve or tumble occurs. Such a position is the last that should be chosen for the rock-garden, especially as we live in an age when it is not desirable to combine it with any kind of fortification. Without alluding to even half the genera, much less the species, of the ridiculous rockwork tribe, I have the pleasure of here presentmg a plan of some, recentl)- constructed on What to .nvoid. Ground plan of '' rockworks" recently made in a London park. the margin of a stream in a great London park. It shows exactly what 7iot to do with any rocks introduced near the margin of water. A poultry breeder, desirous of constructing a series of nests for aquatic birds, could scarcely have originated anything in baser taste. By turning to p. 28, something suggestive of Nature's work in this way will be seen, and that by no means a selected example. So far from these figures illustrating exaggerated or extreme instances, I should have no difficulty in finding many, even uglier and more unsuitable, in a few hours' walk near London. That such blemishes are not confined to obscure places, where the light of modern progress in these mn tiers has not yet shone, is evident, as one of the most absurd Part I. WHAT TO AVOID. sketches was taken in one of our greatest parks and another in one of the most popular of London pubUc gardens. No public garden should show anything in the way of rockwork that is not tasteful, and that is incapable of -^^mMk What to avoid. Sketched at Kew in 1872. answering some useful end. This rule should particularly apply to botanic gardens. Better a thousand times content ourselves with the manifold good effects which we can produce with trees and shrubs and flowers on the level What to avoid. Sketched in the Botanic Gardens, Regent's Park, 1872. ground, than add to the hideous piles of rubbish that go by the name of "rockwork" all over the country. And where these excrescences do occur in public gardens, if the 90 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. finances or other circumstances will not permit of a proper rock-garden being made, the right thing to do is, to convey the otitensive pile to the rubbish-yard some time when the ground is hard in winter, and labour plentiful. Few public gardens show worse examples of the traditional rockwork than Kew. Our sketch shows that on which the collection of alpine plants, etc., is shown in summer. It speaks for itself. Lastly, among the features illustrating the way ;?olar pine Uprears a veteran front ; yet there n' stand, unblanched amid the waste Of desolation. Mrs. Sigounuy. A very pretty dwarf Phyteuma, with blue heads, was found on the rocks here, and as we got down the mountain, Gcum moiitaniim, with its large yellow flowers, gilded the grass somewhat after the fashion of our Buttercups. Semper- ivum IViil/e/iii, a large kind, was in flower^ and the fine Saxi/raga Cotyledon was also coming on. One specimen found had a rosette of leaves eight inches across. Fyrethrum alpimim here takes the place of the Daisy, and is full of flower. Arnica monta/ia, so well known as a medicinal plant, is in 124 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. great abundance, and vety luxuriant, looking like a small single Sunflower. Silttie acatdis is everywhere, and no des- cription can convey an idea of the dense way in which its flowers are produced. Starved between chinks, its cushions are as smooth as velvet, one inch high — though perhaps a hundred years of age — so firm that they resist the pressure of the finger, and so densely covered with bright rosy flowers that the green is totally eclipsed in many specimens. These flowers barely rise above the level of the diminutive leaves. Soon we reached the meadow-land towards the bottom of the warm valley, and found this Piedmontese meadow almost blue with Forget-me-nots and strange Harebells, enlivened by orchids, and jewelled here and there with St. Bruno's Lily {Paradisia Liliastriini). This is one of the very best of all herbaceous or border plants, but I never saw it in such perfection as here in the fresh green grass. The flower is nearly two inches long, of as pure a white as the snows on the top of Monte Rosa. Each petal has a small green tip, like the spring Snowflake, but smaller and purer, and golden stamens adorn the interior of the flower. The pleasure of finding so many beautiful plants, rare in cultivation, growing in the long grass under conditions very similar to those enjoyed in our meadows, was greater than that of meeting with the more diminutive forms on the high Alp, verifying, as they did, the conviction which I had long entertained, that no flowers grow in those mountain meadows that cannot be grown equally well in the rough grassy parts of many British pleasure-grounds, woods, and copses ! From the top of the pass, in addition to the great glacier, two remarkable objects were seen — one an island, called the Belvedere, which breaks the descending ice river, dividing it into two branches, so fresh and green and garden-like as to seem quite out of place in such a position ; the other a great moraine, so formal in outline that to the inexperienced It actually looked like a large embankment, the recent work of some railway company about to open the valley. But it, like all its fellows, is simply one of those colossal accumula- tions of rocks and grit borne down for ages by the great ice river and deposited along its flanks. Next day we explored the Belvedere between the Iwo branches of the glacier, and then turned to the left and Part I. PLANT-HUNTING ON THE MOUNTAINS. 125 traversed a great deal of the mountain above Macugnaga up to the Hne of snow, but, strange to say, found both the Belvedere morahies and mountains a desert, so far as rare alpine plants are concerned. Soldanella alpina was extremely abundant. The great bearded seed-heads of the fine alpine Anemone was a marked feature of the meadows in some places. The yellow alpine Anemone was not uncommon The limit of life. higher up. The little two-leaved Lily-of-the-valley grew along with the common one in the lower fringes of the woods. The dwarf Loiselcuria procianbcns half covered the mountains. The white-flowered j'?rt;///;/