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GARDENING. 



Jan. 



Gardner, Esq., Brookline, Mass., shows 

 the charming effect ol this narcissus when 

 planted in bold masses. Note the fact 

 that the planting ends at a line back of 

 the open lawn to the right so that it is 

 partially hidden by the dense foliage of 

 the bordering trees, where one is apt to 

 come upon it as one has in his rambles in 

 the woods suddenly come upon some 

 group of flowers or ferns that add the 

 charm ol surprise to that of their own 

 beauty. Nearly every garden of any size 

 has shady walks or shady nooks where 

 just such masses could be grown. 



ROCKERIES. 



During the first week in December, the 

 weather being favorable lor the opera- 



but by all means provide a good rich 

 porous soil for these plants and don't 

 make the crevices or cavities between the 

 stones too small, they must in all cases 

 connect with the main or fundamental 

 body of soil. Very few plants can live 

 and flourish if their roots can not find 

 their way into the soil below. 



The sliape and outline of a rockery 

 should be rustic and irregular, shady cor- 

 ners should be created by placing large 

 stones in such a position as to protect 

 the more tender plants from the mid-day 

 sun without robbing them of the requisite 

 light. In nearly every place room for a 

 rockery of some description can be found, 

 and where a variety of" hardy herbaceous 

 plants are cultivated, it will be found 

 that many of them succeed far better in a 

 rockcrv than in the open border, but con- 



ROCKERY PLANTED BY J. B. KELLER. 



tion, we rearranged some of the rockeries 

 which in the course of years had become 

 almost overgrown and covered with veg- 

 etation, some of the stronger growing 

 plants having taken possession of more 

 space than was intended for them, and in 

 many instances crowding their more fee- 

 ble companions. 



One of these rockeries is situated on the 

 east side of the dwelling house on a 

 rather dry sloping bank, not exactly an 

 ideal place for many of the moisture-lov- 

 ing Alpine plants, yet with a little extra 

 care, the plants introduced, with few 

 exceptions, grew fairly well for the last 

 ten years without renewing, and in the 

 present rearrangement many of the old 

 specimens were left undisturbed, but as 

 the material used annually for topdress- 

 ing had by this time filled up many of the 

 cavities and almost buried some of the 

 stones, all the smaller plants had to be 

 lifted. All the stones were removed, the 

 plants dug up with ball adhering andlpid 

 aside, then after rearranging the rocks 

 on the surface, it did not take long to 

 replant the small plants into their proper 

 places. 



No fixed rule can be laid down as to 

 how to place the stones. The proper 

 arrangement must be left to individual 

 taste, the situation, surroundings, etc., 

 and the nature of the plants to be intro- 

 duced should be taken into consideration. 



siderable experience and a thorough 

 knowledge of the habits of the plants to 

 be introduced is surely necessary in deter- 

 mining the different positions for them. 

 No matter how small the rockery may 

 be, a surprisingly large collection may be 

 represented in it and more so if we intro- 

 duce spring flowering hardy bulbs in 

 addition to the regular herbaceous plants. 

 The great majority of rock plants maybe 

 called dwarfs, although in laying out a 

 large rockery many of our taller species 

 can be used to advantage, still on an 

 average the dwarf plants should predom- 

 inate and will be found most interesting 

 and attractive; they do not occupy much 

 space and as a rule are not very rampant 

 growers, many species may therefore be 

 represented in the limited space of a few 

 square yards devoted to a rockery. 



For the driest and most exposed situa- 

 tions the sedums and sempervivums 

 should be used. Antennarias, helianthe- 

 mums, linarias, the dwarf papavers, 

 statices and the low creeping phloxes do 

 well in dry and sunny positions, while 

 the pentstemons, omphalodes, wahlen- 

 bergias, campanulas, Oenotheras, the 

 dwarf lychnis, dwarf asters, astragalus, 

 polygonums, achilleas, hieracium. heu- 

 cheras, aconitums, gypsophilas, silenes, 

 polemoniums, globularias, epimediums, 

 armerias, arenarias. alyssum, the epilo- 

 biums, Dicentra eximea, dictamus, dian- 



thus, iberis, phyteumas, lotus, leontopo- 

 dium, aubrietias, coronillas, claytonias, 

 aethionemas, several of the anemones 

 and others require ordinary moisture and 

 do well in the sunny part of the rockery. 

 The shady nooks on the north side of 

 large stones should be reserved for such 

 plants as hepaticas, dodecatheons, gen- 

 tianas, myosotis. a large variety of 

 primulas and auriculas, hardy terns, 

 soldanellas, plumbago, sanguinaria, Lo- 

 belia cardinalis and L. syphilitica, etc. 

 Here, protected from sun and wind the 

 ground will not dry out so readily as in 

 the more exposed places and the moisture 

 loving plants feel more at home. 



A well arranged rockery, be it large or 

 on a small scale is always a most inter- 

 esting feature on the grounds and never 

 fails to attract attention at any time in 

 the year. In early spring wc may have 

 chionodoxas, crocus, scillas, snowdrops, 

 adonis, arabis, tulips, myosotis, the prim- 

 ulas and violets, followed later on by 

 alyssum, phloxes, iberis. aethionema, 

 Dicentra eximea, the dwarf iris, lychnis, 

 Oenotheras, anemones, aquilegias, cam- 

 panulas, armerias, silenes, saponarias, 

 dianthus, heuchera, Papaver alpinus and 

 nudicauic and globularias, many of which 

 will last in perfection until the fall bloom- 

 ing anemones, plumbago, polygonum, 

 Silcne Schafta, etc., take their place. 



Even in the winter the rockery should 

 not be without its attractions, a few 

 dwarfevergreensinconnection with Eaon- 

 ymus raclicans and th se plants which 

 retain their foliage all the year around, 

 like the Daphne cneorum, iberis, armeria, 

 hclianthemums, etc., will keep up the 

 cheerful appearance in spiteof the severest 

 cold and frost, so that we may enjoy at 

 least some signs of plant life in midwinter 

 when it is supposed that all plants are 

 asleep and at rest. However, there are 

 scarcely three months in the year that the 

 rockery is entirely without flowers, for 

 by March the lovely hepaticas and the 

 snowdrops and scillas are out again, 

 while Lychnis semperflorens, hellebores, 

 Daphne cneorum and violets hold out 

 until December if the weather is as it has 

 been for the last six or eight years. 



Very little care, aside from keeping the 

 plants watered in dry spells, is required. 

 The old flowers should be removed as 

 they fade away, and in order to keep the 

 ground cool and prevent evaporation, 

 the exposed surface of the ground, if there 

 is any, should be kept loose and open. It 

 has been recommended to place small 

 stones or coarse gravel mixed with a 

 'ittle soil over the surface, but our long 

 experience in this country teaches us dif- 

 ferent. Our midsummer sun will heat 

 those stones to such an extent that in- 

 stead of keeping the ground below cool, 

 they impart heat to it and draw out 

 moisture rather than prevent its escape. 

 In sheltered spots, where the sun has no 

 access or where it only strikes the stones 

 for a few hours in the morning or evening 

 this mixture may be used with some ad- 

 vantage, but where the mid-day sunrays 

 fall on them with full force, more harm 

 than good may be expected. 



It is not necessary that all the plants 

 employed in rockwork should be of the 

 hardy class, many of the half hardy, 

 annual, or bedding plants can successfully 

 be used here and often it maybe desirable 

 to provide space for the annual spring 

 planting of these tender things, but where 

 a stock of suitable herbaceous plants is 

 available, much spring labor may be 

 done away with by employing only the 

 hardy plants. J. B. Keller. 



Rochester. N. Y. 



