IRISH GARDENING. 



A Search for Alpines in the 

 Granite Region of the Mari' 

 time Alps. 



One can get to the Mfritiiues by going to Nice 

 or Ventiiniglia a,ncl journey northwards, or by 

 the over-land route i-ia Paris and Turin. The 

 latter way being the ciiiicker was chosen, and 

 Mr. IT. M'Clenaghan and I arrived at Turin on 

 Sunday, 11 th August, 1913. A slow train cairried us 

 to Cuneo p^long the base of the Cottian Alps. 

 From the window one sees Monte Viso, a lofty 

 solitary peak 12,600 feet high, its grandeur 

 accentuated by the lesser heights of its neighbours. 



At Cuneo we slept the night, or at least got 

 as nivich rest as a noisy fete held under the hotel 

 windows would allow. 

 If economi- 

 cally inclin- 

 ed one can 

 take t h e 

 rickety post 

 omnibus 

 which carries 

 one to the 

 'S" a 1 d i e r i 

 Baths in 

 about live 

 hours. At 

 first the road 

 is dry, dusty 

 and uninter- 

 esting as far 

 as the tram 

 runs — to 

 Borgo San 

 Dalmazzo. 

 When Val- 

 dieri is reach- 

 ed, progress 

 is slow, for 

 the road 

 ascends con 

 t i n u o u s 1 y 

 along the 

 valley of the 

 Gesso river. 

 One passes 



the King's hunting lodge at Saint Anna: the stream 

 thunders down between huge granite rocks, and the 

 scenery is wild a,nd rugged, until we rea,ch the 

 Baths, 4 41H feet high. The Valdieri Baths are 

 noted for the sulphurous and sa,line springs and a 

 singular flowerless ])la,nt (I'lva labyrinthiformis) 

 with healing properties. The l?rge solitary hotel is 

 ojien from .July to Se])tember. 



The flora of the district is rich, antl includes 

 .such ])lants as Anthericum Liliastrum, Lilium 

 bulbiferum, Achillea llerbarota. Primulas, 6io. 

 AU)ng the N'alletta glen we took an afternoon 

 stroll : the mountain side must have been a sheet 

 of i)ink some two months eai'lier, jiulging by the 

 numerous seed i)ods of Lychnis Flos-jovis. In 

 moist boggy places, Saxifraga aizoides and 

 Pinguiculas were flowering: by the mountain 

 streams Gardamine asarifolia was producing 

 rather ■weedy-looking white flowers, but the 

 round glossy Asarum-like leaves are handsome. 

 In turfy soil not far away Gentiana punctata 

 threw u]) flower stems 2 feet high ; the yellow- 

 spotted flowers are decidedly uncommon looking. 



i-hotoby] The Ciriega Pass in August [c.f.b. 



Where Viola nummulaifolia, Saxifraga retusa, t&c, are to be found, 



The l*arsley fern grows luxuriantly among the 

 stones in <;ompany with Aspleniuni septentrionale, 

 with its thi'cad-like fronds. The beautiful 

 Diantlius neglcctus is plentiful in th's glen, and 

 was still in flower : its i)ink flowers with their buff 

 under surface are always attractive. It is variable 

 both in colour and form of petals. Another 

 variable plant is Potentilla Valderia ; sonie of the 

 better forms have leaves of a pure glistening 

 silver, while others are dvill, even when growing 

 side by side, so that it cannot be a question of 

 soil, but of seedling variation. The good forms 

 of this ]>lant are well worth cultivating for their 

 foliage, although the flowers are poor with small 

 white ])etals. 



Higher up we met with Senecio Doronicum, 

 still in flower, and the fluffy heads of seed of the 

 Alpine Anemone ; growing higher still in tight 

 crevices of the solid granite rock was Senecio 

 incanus, also known as S. Persoonii. In such 

 ]ilaces where one would expect the plants to be 



burnt u]) by 

 the hot 

 s c o r c h i ng 

 sun, the 

 elegant leaves 

 assume a 

 w h i t e n e ss 

 probably 

 unrivalled 

 b y any 

 Alpine plant 

 and the yel- 

 low flowers 

 are f r e e 1 y 

 ])r o duced. 

 After seeing 

 this plant in 

 a wild state 

 I am con- 

 vinced that 

 the]dacefor 

 it is a ci'e- 

 vice between 

 stones or in 

 t he wall 

 garden. Our 

 object i n 

 coming t o 

 Valdieri was 

 to collect 

 seed of the 

 rare Viola Valderia. Receiving instructions 

 (possibly well meant) at the hotel as to 

 its whereabouts, we started oft' in the morning. 

 The path led up the hill side, and was soon lost 

 in thickets of the Alpine Laburnum, which here 

 ascends beyond the limits of all other deciduous 

 trees, and covers whole mountain sides. After an 

 hour of a rather trying time the Laburnum grove 

 finished' at the edg(! of a i)recii)ice with a deep 

 dro|) of some hundreds of feet, so, more warm 

 than ])leased, we scrambled downwards and came 

 to a dry river bed. Among the tunibled stones 

 were numbers of Ilouseleeksand Sedumsand large 

 mats of the Cobweb Sempervivum. In the poor 

 stony ground tlu; Alpine lettuce (Lactuca i)ereiuiis) 

 with its blue flowers was quite a dwarf and pretty 

 ])lant : the same ap])lies to the dee|)-roote(l 

 Epilobium Fleischeri, or Dodonsei, with pink 

 flowers, and Scabiosa holosericea with its grey 

 leaves and ])ink flowers. However, time would 

 not permit of a long delay here, so we proceeded 

 on to a idace where we had already noted a single 

 plant of Viola Valderia. After a time a .steep 



