ALPINE PLANTS IN SMALL GARDENS 4I 
where a town garden is so hemmed in that sunlight is 
almost excluded, there are still possibilities, for with a 
selection of shade-loving plants of hardy constitution and 
free growth an otherwise dull and disappointing patch may 
be made both attractive and interesting. 
We have Anemones of many varieties that thrive without 
the sunshine, and even under the shade and drip of trees. 
Arenaria balearica grows freely in damp, sunless spots. 
Quite a host of Primulas that would collapse if subjected to 
the fierce heat of summer’s sun will grow and bloom with 
vigour in a walled-in town garden. Ramondia pyrenaica, 
one of the sweetest of alpines, requires a cool shady spot, 
and the red and purple varieties of Saxifraga oppositifolia, 
as well as many of the mossy Saxifrages, delight in shade. 
But so far as the selection of plants for shady or sunny, 
dry or moist positions is concerned, the classified lists 
provided in a later chapter will serve as a guide. 
It has already been advised that the soil utilized in 
making a rock-garden should be rich in humus, but not 
with rank animal manure. It must obviously be the proper 
thing to plant the general run of alpines in soil largely 
consisting of leafy mould, decayed vegetable matter and 
porous grit, sand or stone chippings, for in their mountain 
homes the cracks, interstices and hollows among the rocks 
get filled with just this kind of compost, and it is in this 
that the plants find a congenial rooting medium. 
A sandy soil is easily improved by the incorporation of 
leaf-mould, spent hops, lawn mowings and other humus- 
forming materials, whilst a stiff clay may be dealt with by 
first digging deeply and roughly in autumn, leaving the 
