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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



plant species even a small rockery can hold. This oc- 

 casionally misleads owners into acquiring the possibly 

 largest collections with the result .of making a botanic 

 garden out of a rockery. Botany, however, is a science, 

 and gardening in its purely decorative potentialities is an 

 art — two entirely different things with no connecting 

 link existing. 



Watch the phenomenon of the awakening of the vege- 

 tation within the regions adjacent to the eternal ice of the 

 glacier. The powerful sun-ravs of June finallv suc- 



Rock (iordcn of Gustmu- Hcckslicr. Strafford, Pa. 



ceed ill removing the last vestiges of a 

 thick and heavy mantle of snow. At 

 once the emerging verdure of herb 

 growth, densely covering the ground, ap- 

 pears sprinkled over with color. Within 

 the course of a few- days myriads of little 

 blossoms open, forming solid sheets of 

 Iirilliant hues in great variation. It is 

 this incomparable spectacle of radiant 

 color-gayety which prompts us to make 

 color our medium of expression in rock 

 garden planting. 



As most of the strictly alpine plant 

 species, chiefly for clirnatical reasons, 

 proved unavailable for the American 

 rock garden, we have learned from the 

 very start to rely on our native vegeta- 

 tion. The great mountainous districts of 

 the northern part of our hemisphere are 

 (iislinguished by a flora unusually rich 

 in beautiful trees, shrubs and herbaceous 

 ])lant life easily domesticated and resista- 

 ble to withstand hot waves during Sum- 

 mer and the frigid periods of even our 

 northern Winters. With leading nur- 

 series now carrying assortments of the liest rock garden 

 habitants on their stock lists, and garden magazines pub- 

 lishing articles on the rudimentary side, the imj^etus of 

 countryside connoisseurs in their desire for the enjoyment 

 of the beauty, invested in this subject, occasionally impels 

 to exertions of personal ingenuity. Results differ, but on 

 the whole, there is good reason for encouraging such at- 

 tempts. I know of instances demonstrating surprising 

 deftness in coping with intricate problems of the construc- 



tional part and. in regard to planting, 1 have seen ar- 

 rangements composed by students and lovers of Nature 

 representing wonderful feats of cleverness. 



For producing impressive floral color effects we need 

 an open sunny exposure. All plantings should be done 

 in early Spring or early Autumn. The illustration of the 

 rockery of Mrs. Andrew Adie, Chestnut Hill, Mass., de- 

 picting a general aspect of work immediately after plant- 

 ing, evinces the necessity of the vegetation first forming 

 a unit with the rock-setting before we may arrive at the 

 illusion of natural reality. This, however, 

 the creeping growth of most of the hardy 

 herbaceous material very quickly estab- 

 lishes, and moreover, we are going to be 

 regaled by a fair display of blossoming 

 and floral color notes during the first 

 year. 



The enjoyment of a full color tonality 

 in rock gardens begins with the second 

 season. Being in its essential part vernal, 

 the preludiary accords are noticeable as 

 early as in March, increasing steadily in 

 number and volume until reaching the 

 great festive climax during May. South 

 of New York, beginning the second week 

 in June; throughout the New England 

 States perceptible as late as the end of 

 June, the diminuendo sets in, going 

 down to the level of an amiable mid- 

 Summer and Fall modesty in floral array. 

 This confrontation with an unusually 

 bountiful beauty in blossoms and hues 

 immediately after a weary Winter's end- 

 ing, when our mind and vision are most 

 appreciative and susceptible, exerts its 



Entrance to Author's Rock Garden, Glenside, Pa. 



charm. \\ e gladly accept it as a greeting from 

 distant hillsides. We interpret its meaning as being a 

 message out of the clarity and the invigorating atmos- 

 phere of high altitudes, where, in giving cheer to ap- 

 parent desolation of avalanche and wind-swept mountain 

 recesses. Mother Nature, kindly disposed, proves lavishly 

 liberal in ajiplying the brightest tints from her color 

 palette. 



\'oid of every-day conventionality, the vernal glory 



