244 ROCK GARDENS 



" Bridesmaid! — Large flowers, rosy pink. A good variety. 



" Craven GemP — Good purple. 



" Dr Mules^ — Best habit of growth of any Aubrietia, being very 

 compact. Deep violet-purple flowers. Better grown in shade, as 

 in sun the flowers fade. 



" Fire King!^ — Of rather straggling habit. Flowers crimson, with 

 a trace of magenta, so will require care in grouping, but is all the 

 same a very desirable plant. 



A. Moerheimi. — Flowers pale rose, rather like, but not so large 

 as, " Bridesmaid^ 



Prichards Ai. — Deep violet-coloured flowers of large size, but of 

 rather loose growth. 



A. Wallacei. — Deep violet-blue flowers, blooming both in spring 

 and in autumn, and many others of different shades of rose and 

 violet. 



There are also two with variegated foliage — A. argentea, silvery 

 white; A. aurea^ gold variegation; both tidy, compact growers, 

 and quite pretty. 



A. tauricola. — A distinct deciduous species, which forms compact 

 tufts and has deep blue flowers. 



Auricula {see Primula) 



Azalea (Ericaceae) 



A very large genus of lovely shrubs, many of which are evergreen. 

 They are typically mountain bushes, growing only to a moderate 

 height and very free-flowering, and are most eminently suitable for 

 planting in the rock garden. They also have the advantage of 

 being easier to grow than the Rhododendrons, to which family 

 they are very closely allied. Although supposed to grow only in 

 peat, they will be found to thrive and flower well in ordinary loam, 

 provided it is fairly free from lime, which, like all other peat-lovers, 

 they detest. There are a vast number of named kinds, all of which 

 are lovely and most suitable for planting amongst rocks. But as 

 space will not permit me to enumerate them all, I shall only give 

 a few of the more distinctive types. 



A. amoena. — Peat or ordinary loam ; any aspect. Forms a 

 compact little evergreen bush about 12 to 18 inches high. Small 

 dark green leaves and rosy-crimson flowers. Blooms in May in the 

 greatest profusion. A delightful little shrub, which should be freely 

 planted in masses. 



A.procumbens (syn. Loiseleuria procumbens). — Deep, sandy peat 

 in half shade. A small, trailing shrub with wiry branches, not 

 growing more than from 2 to 3 inches high, and forming a compact 



