THE GARDEN OF ALPINES 25 



tive must be the mind that is not moved when amidst the 

 savagery of Nature, the chaos of rock and dreary waste 

 of snow, a tiny plant springs forth and bravely fights for 

 life. In lowland pastures it would fail to arouse a 

 moment's thought, but here, in the stillness of the 

 eternal solitudes, its message of life and hope is trumpet 

 tongued. The thinking mind values flowers no less for 

 their capacity of arousing emotions, than for their gifts 

 of colour and form, and I may be pardoned if, in a book 

 of a practical nature, I claim for the smallest of cultivated 

 plants, a power which is not equalled by the most 

 majestic tree or gorgeous exotic. For this reason, a 

 particular interest attaches to the small mosses and 

 diminutive plants which in the Alpine garden are afforded 

 the highest positions. 



The smaller varieties of Androsace and Saxifrage, 

 which thrive in the grit-filled clefts beside mountain 

 glaciers, often fail altogether in garden soil. It is 

 ridiculous to speak of such plants as " delicate" Alpines, 

 or to infer that our climate is unsuited to their needs. 

 As a matter of fact, the soil in most Alpine gardens is 

 far too rich, and these plants from the highest regions 

 die from over-nutrition. The earth chinks should be 

 filled with the poorest gravel soil, and with full 

 exposure to sun and free drainage the majority will do 

 well. 



In town gardens Androsaces are difficult to grow, as 

 their small green leaves soon become coated with soot 

 and dust. They are diminutive plants of the Primrose 

 order, and in their native Alps flower directly the snow 

 has melted. Small fissures in the upper part of the 

 Alpine garden should be prepared for their reception, a 

 mixture of gritty loam and sand, with a small proportion 

 of peat, being packed into the crevices. The plants will 

 never thrive on shallow ledges ; the roots should strike 

 downwards for at least a foot. During summer 



