36 ROCK AND WATER GARDENS 



Another good grouping would consist of Iberis semper- 

 virens and the yellow Alpine Wallflower (Cheiranthus 

 alpinus). This combination is particularly beautiful on 

 an almost perpendicular rock face, the deep green and 

 white curtain of Candytuft falling among the golden 

 Wallflowers, which thrive exceedingly in the earth 

 fissures of rock walling. An exquisite picture is 

 achieved by a few plants of Lithospermum prostratum 

 (Cromwell), and a cluster of the Pyramidal Saxifrage 

 (S. Cotyledon). Given a large boulder, rising from 

 an earth ledge, we may plant the former so that it falls, 

 a cascade of gentian blue, into the lap of the silver- 

 leaved Rockfoils. In addition to the beauty of blue and 

 silver, tall pyramids of white Saxifrage flowers will rise 

 in graceful clusters before a curtain of azure. 



Between scattered clumps of the Blue Winter Wind- 

 flower (A. blanda), drifts of Snowdrops may wander 

 freely ; a carpet of the white and silver Saxifraga cassia 

 gives an added beauty to the rosy tufts of the Glacier 

 Pink (D. neglectus). Saponaria ocymoides forms with 

 the Creeping Sandwort (Arenaria) a mist of pink and 

 white over rock ledges and grey stones ; the graceful 

 flower sprays of Maiden's Wreath (Francoa) are seen to 

 greatest advantage when backed by the rich green foliage 

 of Alpine Rhododendrons and other shrubs. 



It would be easy to suggest further combinations, 

 either for form or colour, but the value of garden 

 books lies more in suggestion than in the laying down 

 of fixed rules. A garden heedlessly planted can never 

 be really beautiful ; good pictures require something 

 more than the mere covering of a canvas with splashes 

 of paint. The grouping of plants, so that each individual 

 is of some benefit to its neighbour, is a pleasant task, 

 and calls forth the best instincts of the lover of Nature. 



Rock plants are so numerous that only the best of the 

 different families can be mentioned. These will suffice 



