844 



SAXIFRAGA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



SAXIFRAGA. 



hairs. It is perfectly hardy, and may be 

 grown in various ways. In some perpendicular 

 chink of a rock-garden, where it can root 

 deeply, it is very striking when the long outer 

 leaves of the rosette spread away from the 

 densely-packed centre. It may also be grown 

 on the face of an old wall by carefully packing 

 a small plant of it into a chink with a little 

 soil. The stiffleaves will, when they roll out, 

 adhere firmly to the wall in the form of a large 

 silver star. 6". hvigifolia will thrive on a 

 raised bed or border if surrounded by a few 

 stones to prevent evaporation and injury, also 

 in a greenhouse or frame, and perhaps the best 

 way to develop a weak young nursery plant 

 into a sturdy rosette is to put it in a 6-in. pot 

 well drained and filled with a mixture of 

 sandy loam and stable manure. Place it in a 

 sunny pit or frame, giving it plenty of water 

 in spring, summer, and autumn. Increase is by 

 seeds, which ripen from the bottom of the 

 stem upwards, so that the lower seed-vessels 

 should be cut off first, leaving those above to 

 mature. Visit the plant frequently to collect 

 the seeds as they ripen. S. lingiilata chiefly 

 differs from this kind in having smaller flowers 

 and shorter stems. It is a charming rock- 

 plant, and will succeed in the same position as 

 S. longifolia. S. cnistata is considered a very 

 small variety of S. longifolia, and should be 

 associated with dwarfer plants. 



S. Maweana is a handsome species of the 

 ccTSpitosa section, and larger than any other in 

 foliage and flowers. The latter, about the size 

 of a shilling, form dense white masses in early 

 summer. After flowering, this species forms 

 buds on the stems, which remain dormant till 

 the following spring. Though rare, it is of 

 easy culture. Similar, but finer, \%S. Wallacei, 

 which is far more robust, earlier, and freer as 

 regards flowering, but which does not develop 

 buds during summer. It is a most desirable 

 plant for the border or the rock-garden, and 

 easily propagated. Potfuls of this are pretty, as 

 the flowers are large, and so free as to form a 

 mass of white. 



S. muscoides {Mossy Saxifrage). — A beauti- 

 ful little plant, forming a dense bright green 

 carpet like S. hypnoides and S. ccTSpitosa. There 

 are several forms of it, one of the best being 

 atropurpurea, which produces a dense mass of 

 deep red-purple blossoms on stalks a few inches 

 high. Other forms bear yellowish or rosy 

 flowers, the best being S. Rhei, with large 

 bright pink flowers borne very freely on long 

 stalks, and Guildford Seedling, a new kind, 

 with large crimson-purple flowers of fine effect. 

 The varieties /j'^w^srt and croceazre pretty, also 

 the allied kinds S. exarata, S. pedemoiitana, S. 

 aroiiiatica, and a few others ; they grow in 

 almost any soil. 



S, oppositifolia. — It is impossible to speak 

 too highly of the Ijeauties of this bright little 

 mountain-plant, in colour and in habit so dis- 

 tinct from others of its family. The moment 

 the snow melts, it glows into solid sheets of 

 purplish-rose colour. Of the several varieties, 

 that known as spleitdens has flowers of far 



greater brilliancy, though slightly smaller and 

 less abundant than those of the parent ; in bud 

 especially the colour is almost carmine and 

 most beautiful. This variety was found many 

 years ago on the mountains of Scotland. S. a. 

 major has flowers twice the size of the type, 

 clear rose, inclmingto cherry, and has less of a 

 purple tinge. In S. o. pyrenaica the shoots 

 are much stronger and the flowers larger than 

 in other forms. A fine form is S. o. p. maxima, 

 with lovely light rose blossoms as large as a 

 shilling ; while S. o. alba has white flowers, in 

 pleasing contrast to other varieties. Perhaps 

 the best form of all is a new seedling, W. A. 

 Clark, with abundant rosy flowers of a very 

 bright shade. .V. Riidolphiana has a more 



Group of Silvery Rockfoils. 



spreading habit of growth, and its rosy-purple 

 flowers are sometimes borne singly and some- 

 times (though rarely) in pairs. It is allied to 

 S. biflora and S. Kotschyi, the last with rosy- 

 purple flowers in twos and fours at the tips 

 of the shoots. The foliage of 5. retusaxs^tra. 

 and compact, with small flowers borne in 

 clusters at the tips of erect stalks ; their narrow 

 petals are usually a pale rose colour, sometimes 

 brighter. It blooms rather later than the forms 

 of S. oppositifolia. S IViilfeniana is closely 

 allied to S. retiisa. S. oppositifolia and its 

 varieties succeed in deep, open, rich, loamy 

 soil, and are finest in a fissure or on a ledge of 

 the rock-garden, where the roots can ramble 

 backwards or down to any depth. For the 

 soil, a rich light loam mixed with fragments of 

 limestone or grit, small fragments of any rock, 

 and a little river sand will do. These plants 

 must have sunshine, for though they will grow 

 in the shade, they will not flower freely. The 

 same treatment, with the addition of a little 



