20 ROCK AND WATER GARDENS 



to depend too much upon suspected adaptability : not 

 infrequently it fails altogether. The geological formation 

 of the Alps includes certain well-defined classes of soil, 

 with a flora peculiar to each. On limestone soils the 

 beautiful Pasque-flower (Anemone Pulsatilla) is invariably 

 content, its violet flowers scattered over the grassy hill- 

 sides in early spring ; on ordinary garden loam it 

 frequently fails altogether. Rhododendron Chamaecistus, 

 though strictly speaking a native of the Tyrol, is another 

 chalk-loving plant, whereas R. ferrugineum prefers a 

 granite soil. Among the large family of Alpine Gentians, 

 such varieties as angustifolia and Clusii are always best 

 on limestone, whilst on the granite soil their place is 

 taken by Pyrenaica and Kochiana. 



Having regard therefore to the welfare of plants in the 

 Alpine garden, care should be taken to make the choice 

 of varieties entirely subservient to the class of soil with 

 which we are dealing. 



Except in very large gardens it is really unnecessary 

 to provide special soil, that is supposing that a garden 

 picture and not a botanical collection is the object in view. 

 There are sufficient plants peculiar cither to the granitic 

 or calcareous formation for us to make a garden of either. 

 The gardener who grows plants for their beauty and not 

 for their rarity realises that he can do better by keeping 

 to varieties that suit his soil, than by adapting the soil to 

 accommodate unwilling aliens. 



In a garden of any size an endeavour should certainly 

 be made to provide an ideal home by means of grassy 

 banks or an approach of fine turf for some of the 

 beautiful flowers of the Alpine meadows. Naturalised 

 in this way they will appear to greater advantage and 

 flower more profusely than in the bare earth spaces among 

 the rocks. In close grass Anemone Pulsatilla is at its 

 best, and in the same place the lovely Alpine Primula 

 (P. Auricula), quite distinct from the florist's varieties, 



