96 ALPINE PLANTS 
colour. There are signs of late that Mimulus are gaining 
in favour, and ere long let us hope these gorgeous flowers 
will be well in evidence in all gardens of any note. 
NepeTa Mussin1.—Of shrubby character with grey 
stems and hoary leaves, this plant is one of the freest 
and most continuous flowering plants for either a prominent 
position on the rockery or for the front of the alpine bed. 
The spikes of small lavender-coloured flowers are pro- 
duced with the utmost freedom from spring to autumn, 
and even without blossoms the silvery-grey, crumpled 
foliage, thickly set on wiry stems, makes a bright and cheerful 
patch when most other subjects are at rest. The Nepeta 
may be easily propagated by means of cuttings, early 
autumn being a suitable time to take them. There is 
one point that should be mentioned. Something in the 
aromatic foliage of the Nepeta possesses a great power 
of fascination for cats which will lie and roll upon the 
plants, and sometimes devour almost all the foliage. Should 
a cat be found to have commenced paying unwelcome 
attention to one’s plant the best course is to syringe its 
foliage with a paraffin wash, using a good soluble pre- 
paration for the purpose. 
Nocc#a.—Sprinkle a pinch of seed of Noccza alpina 
or N. stylosa in the crannies and crevices of a rocky mound 
or an old stone wall, and a colony of small, close-growing, 
cress-like plants will be established which will thrive, 
blossom freely, and scatter seed to reproduce their species 
without causing the slightest trouble. Alpina has white 
flowers in close little heads, stylosa is lilac mauve, and 
very pretty. The flowers are fragrant and are freely 
