IN AN ALPINE GARDEN 143 



And yet the visitor must remember that these 

 gardens are in every sense Alpine. That is to say, 

 he must remember that they are more or less 

 subject to Alpine conditions — to, for instance, the 

 lonff snows of winter and all that those snows 

 mean. Therefore, much of what is learnt from 

 these gardens must afterw^ards be made to fit in 

 with the conditions of the home garden — with, for 

 instance, the humidity of winter or the comparative 

 dryness of spring. Let us again take the case of 

 Gentiana verna as illustration. It loves moisture 

 rather than dryness, especially during its flowering 

 season. This moisture it obtains, in Switzerland, 

 from the gradually melting snow ; but on a rock- 

 work in England it is not likely to have this steady 

 supply of moisture. If placed upon a slope in the 

 rockery, in imitation of its position on a sloping 

 Alpine pasture, though it may receive the Spring 

 rains, these will rapidly run off, leaving the slope 

 dry again almost immediately. Although it abhors 

 any approach to stagnant moisture, this Gentian 

 cannot be treated like a rock-loving Saxifrage or 

 Sedum, nor, be it remembered, like a deep-growing, 

 tap-rooted Campanula or Phyteuma. For it to 

 meet with anything Uke enjoyment, it should be 

 planted hi a well-drained, loamy hollo v/ or de- 



