134 ALPINE PLANTS 
grow, but there are just one or two points that have an 
important influence upon their welfare. 
In the first place the Cyclamen are shade-loving plants, 
delighting to nestle at the base of a sheltering rock, under 
the grateful shade of conifers or spreading trees. They 
like a rich vegetable soil, but with a liberal admixture of 
mortar rubble or limestone. They do not like rough 
winds, that batter their foliage and may break the stalks 
of both leaves and blossoms, but by banking round with 
boulders, sufficient protection may easily be afforded. 
A certain amount of failure is undoubtedly due to planting 
at unsuitable seasons. The majority of hardy Cyclamen 
are imported as dry corms, but the trouble is that with 
the varied periods of growth and rest of the different 
species, there is no one time at which all the kinds may 
properly be imported or planted, and often the roots are 
stored in a dry state for so long a period that they become 
shrivelled and exhausted of all vitality. It is infinitely 
better to purchase sturdy established corms in pots, and 
although one such root may cost the price of three dry 
corms, the results in the long run will be far more grati- 
fying. The early flowerers should be planted in autumn, 
the late blooming kinds in spring. Cover the corms 
with light soil, because roots will then be formed above 
as well as below the corms. An occasional mulching of 
good leaf mould will prove very beneficial. 
CYPRIPEDIUM.—Choice and extremely beautiful, this 
genus of the orchid tribe contains some of the most 
delightful of plants for cool moist bays in the rock garden, 
where the soil is of a brown peaty nature. One exception, 
