90 ROCK GARDENS 



already mentioned, live if there is any present 

 in the soil. 



There are some plants indeed, and amongst 

 them some of the most difficult alpines to grow, 

 that require the very poorest of soil, composed 

 chiefly of grit and small stones, and to these 

 anything in the nature of high feeding quickly 

 proves fatal. 



For these the moraine, as described in the 

 previous chapter, is eminently adapted, ensur- 

 ing as it does the quick and efficient drainage 

 so essential to maintaining them in health. 



Alpines, even those that are found most 

 difficult to cultivate in this country, grow freely 

 in their native habitat, and it is now becom- 

 ing generally recognised that this condition of 

 things is due, not so much to the soil as to 

 the cUmate, the altitude, rainfall, temperature, 

 length of growing season, duration of snow, 

 humidity of the air, etc. 



Although the winter in high altitudes is 

 so much longer and far more severe than is 

 ever experienced in this country, the alpines 

 lie dormant during it, nursing their strength 

 and vigour under a thick blanket of snow, 



