186 ALPINE PLANTS 
“down in the green and shady dell” is not more coy 
or winsome than the sweet little Soldanellas, that nod 
their deeply fringed hoop-petticoat blossoms over their 
tufts of rounded glossy green leaves. Many a plant 
makes a more ostentatious display of charms, but few 
are more bewitchingly beautiful. We may have them 
in violet, purple, lavender, and white, and if planted in 
a bed of good leaf soil with some silver sand and charcoal, 
choosing a shady spot, they will all delight us with a 
goodly quantity of flowers from early April till the latter 
end of May. Not that the plant is tender, but rather 
in order that it may be ensured a period of rest, it is 
advisable to place a sheet of glass over it to ward off the 
rains of winter, otherwise during spells of mild wet 
weather young foliage will start from the crowns, and this 
is calculated to be detrimental to the following spring’s 
blooming. 
Soldanellas are very fine subjects for pans in the alpine 
house or frame. 
Spir#A.—For large rock gardens with cool, moist 
depressions or recesses, many of the comparatively tall, 
erect-growing Spirzas are very useful and ornamental 
subjects, but there are a number of dwarf, rambling, or 
flat-growing species that are exquisite for small rockeries 
in damp places. Spirzas can never be entirely successful 
except where their roots are abundantly supplied with 
water. Most like peaty soil, but some are not at all 
particular as to the character of the soil, so long as moisture 
is not lacking, and whilst their roots are within reach of 
water they will endure hot sunshine, and even revel in 
