42 ALPINE PLANTS 
upturned clods exposed to the influence of winter’s frosts, 
and then by the liberal addition of sharp sand, lime rubble, 
limestone chippings and burnt earth, as well as such humus- 
forming material as is available. By February or March 
such a bed will have become sufficiently friable to rake 
down to a good surface tilth, and the planting of most 
alpines may then be undertaken, choosing of course a 
time when the weather is fairly open, and the soil in a 
condition to work comfortably. Never plant while any 
frost is in the ground, nor when the soil is so saturated with 
moisture as to be sticky and muddy. 
With lighter soils autumn planting is to be preferred for 
the ordinary run of alpines, although a few plants that are 
particularly impatient of excessive moisture during their 
dormant season are best planted in spring. Such will be 
found to be indicated in the descriptive notes of the various 
plants. In other cases the best time for replanting is 
immediately the season of flowering has passed. Most 
nurserymen grow alpine plants for sale in pots, and such 
may be transplanted with safety at practically any season 
of the year except when the ground is either frost-bound or 
snow covered. 
In planting pot-grown plants it is inadvisable to break 
the ball of soil at all. Simply turn out the plant by inverting 
the pot and tapping its edge, and insert in a hole just deep 
enough to bring the surface of the pot soil slightly below 
the level of the bed. Draw soil gently all round the plant 
and press very firmly with the hands. Firm planting must 
be the rule, for no plant roots well if the soil lies too loosely 
around it. When plants are lifted from the open ground 
