ALPINE PLANTS. II 
The compost should be as poor as possible, 
so as not to encourage too much growth, and 
prevent ripening sufficiently to withstand the 
damp winter. They are nearly all sun-loving 
plants, with the exception of one—A. stricta 
—which requires a damp, peaty soil, and 
likes the shady side of a bog. 
ALYSSUM ALPESTRE (Pyrenees): The 
Alyssums are all mostly of easy culture. 
Pyrenaicum and alpestre require a little more 
care and attention, especially the former. It 
is more of a limestone plant, requiring a 
warm, dry crevice on the south side of a 
rockery, wedged tightly between _ stones. 
This wants looking carefully to in the spring, 
in case the soil has washed away from the 
plant during winter and left it bare. If this is 
not attended to it will soon die, as it does 
not root very deeply, and therefore has no 
chance to withstand the hot sun. A little top- 
dressing of fine limestone and loam should be 
used. The other species grow freely in any 
ordinary loam. 
ANDROMEDA FASTIGIATA. The Andro- 
medas are all very interesting. Fastigzata, 
which is perhaps most rare and the least 
