CHAPTER II 
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ALPINE 
PLANTS 
S a stepping-stone to the successful management 
of alpine plants the first aim should be to acquire 
some knowledge of their likes and dislikes, their habit 
of growth, character, and peculiarities, and this we may 
do in a broad and general sense by studying the environ- 
ment and conditions that prevail in their native habitats. 
The true alpines are of course mountain plants, but 
whilst some grow at high altitudes and in the bleak exposure 
of snow-swept peaks, others secure themselves in the shel- 
tered nooks and crannies of the lower slopes, whilst many 
plants that are admirably suited for inclusion in our garden 
collections are plants of the valleys rather than the heights. 
For the most part alpines are dwarf-growing, a large pro- 
portion being prostrate creepers, whilst some grow in 
the form of dense, compact little bushes, and some, whilst 
they cannot be described as trailers or creepers, nestle 
closely to the face of the rock or the soil, and spread 
themselves by means of stoloniferous or rooting stems 
and form close carpets of verdure, decked in season with 
gay short-stalked blossoms. 
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