518 THE GARDENER. [Nov. 



at a small morsel of some of the glaucous Sedums and beautifully- 

 in-crusted Saxifrages, and then go and view the same plants by the 

 square yard and see how very much more striking they look the one 

 way as compared to the other. And this is exactly how they show 

 themselves in their natural condition. 



We would advise some of our readers who have a series or group 

 of beds not very large in their gardens, to try the bedding of these 

 gems after the following method. Suppose a circular bed rising some- 

 what cone or globe shaped to its centre. Let the first ring next the 

 box or grass edging be of Sedum dasyphyllum, the second ring of 

 Saxifraga rosealaria, the third of Sempervivum californicum, the fourth 

 of Arabis lucida variegata, the fifth of Saxifraga longifolia vera, 

 and the sixth or centre of the bed be Saxifraga ceratophylla. The 

 rings formed of these should be a few inches in breadth ; and seen in 

 such breadth, and in concentric rings, their individual beauty is much 

 more conspicuous than when mixed up in small patches with other 

 plants. This is just one example of scores of combinations and plants 

 that could be adopted. Then for carpeting, how charmingly beautiful 

 is a carpet of Sedum dasyphyllum or Sedum acre aureum, or Thymus 

 tomentosus, or Saxifraga glabra ; Veronica repens, Veronica alpestris, 

 Perinaria glabra, and many other beautiful dwarf spreading plants 

 which will occur to the minds of all acquainted with Alpine flora, 

 and which supply colours almost as varied as the summer bedding 

 plants, and aspects of vegetation far more chaste and interesting ! 

 Take, for instance, a bed covered densely over with the quite brownish 

 grey, edge it with Saxifraga rosealaria, or S. incrustata, or even Sedum 

 acre aureum, and dot the centre or body of the bed, at intervals of 8 or 

 9 inches, with large well-developed plants of that gem among Saxi- 

 frages, S. longifolia vera, and there will be produced a bed that must 

 look charming the whole winter, or indeed the whole year. This is 

 another combination only indicative of what can be done with the 

 family of hardy Alpines in the way of grouping. 



Then for dressing the surface of beds in which Hyacinths, Crocuses, 

 Tulips, &c., are planted for early spring- flowering, what could excel 

 as a beautiful carpeting, or what could show off bulbous flowers to 

 more advantage, than the dwarf plants named above, and scores of 

 others which might be mentioned? If these plants were difficult to pro- 

 pao-ate or keep, we would hesitate to recommend them for such a 

 purpose ; but most of them are so easily managed, and propagate so 

 rapidly, that they can be grown in breadths in any out-of-the-way 

 corner, and many of them lifted in great tufts and planted with the 

 greatest ease, and without any check or injury to themselves. The 

 low, dense-growing, surface-rooting Saxifrages, Sedums, and Veronicas, 



