14 ALPINE PLANTS 
It may be well at the outset to remark that whilst for 
convenience and brevity our title is alpine plants, the 
work will embrace many plants which, although not 
natives of the European Alps, are of kindred nature and 
generally adapted for cultivation as alpines. 
Much has been written and might yet be written upon 
the merits of these plants, but the points I wish to empha- 
size are that in a given space of restricted area a greater 
range of varieties may be successfully grown than is pos- 
sible with any other class of plants, and that even in a 
tiny town garden a collection of alpine plants may be 
accommodated that will include something to bloom 
every month of the year from January to December, 
whilst many are as beautiful and pleasing in foliage as 
in flower. 
With abundance of room and ample resources at dis- 
posal, rock gardens may be created which shall constitute 
a source of endless enjoyment, but let me urge upon my 
readers to set aside the notion, unfortunately too preva- 
lent, that vast expense must be incurred in building 
elaborate rockeries in order to secure success and enjoy- 
ment with alpine plants. It is quite possible to grow 
a thoroughly good collection even without a rockery at 
all, and it is this extraordinary adaptability of this class 
of plants to gardens of every conceivable size and character 
that constitutes its exceptional claim to the special atten- 
tion of all who love gardening. But a real love of plants 
and of gardening is the great essential, for it is not he 
who, having wealth, submits to the whims of fancy or 
fashion, and orders a rock garden to be built and planted, 
