ALPINE FLOWER, ROCK, AND WALL GARDENS. 89 



plants like the Menziesia, Trillium, Cypripedium, Spigelia, and a 

 number of other mountain and bog-plants. Though the body of 

 the soil may be of loam, it is well to have a few masses of peat 

 here and there. This is better than forming all the ground of good 

 loam, and then digging holes for the reception of small masses of 

 peat. The soil of some portions might also be chalky or calcareous, 

 for the sake of plants that are known to thrive best on such forma- 

 tions, like the Milkworts, the Bee Orchis, and Rhododendron 

 Chamaecistus. Any other varieties of soil required by particular 

 kinds can be given as they are planted. 



It is not well to associate a small lakelet or pond with the rock 

 garden, as is frequently done. If a picturesque piece of water can 

 be seen from the rock garden, well and good ; but water should not, 

 as a rule, be closely associated with it. In places of limited extent, 

 water should not be thought of. 



In the planting of every kind of rock garden, it should be 

 remembered that all the surface should be planted. Not alone on 

 slopes, or favourable ledges, or chinks, should we see this exquisite 

 plant-life, as many rare mountain species will thrive on the less 

 trodden parts of footways ; others, like the two-flowered Violet, seem 

 to thrive best in the fissures between steps ; many dwarf succulents 

 delight in gravel and the hardest soil. 



In cultivating the very rarest and smallest alpine plants, the 

 stony, or partially stony, surface is to be preferred. Full exposure is 

 necessary for very minute plants, and stones are useful in preventing 

 evaporation and protecting them in other ways. 



Few have much idea of the number of alpine plants that may 

 be grown on fully exposed ordinary ground. But some kinds 

 require care, and there are usually new kinds coming in, which, even 

 if vigorous, should be kept apart for a time. Therefore, where the 

 culture of alpine plants is entered into with zest, there ought to be 

 a sort of nursery spot on which to grow the most delicate and rare 

 kinds. It should be fully exposed, and sufficiently elevated to secure 

 perfect drainage. 



The increased interest in rock gardening of recent years has 



led to much work of this kind being done throughout the country, 



and without good results from an artistic point 



Ill-formed rock of view. The rock gardens are not right in 



gardens. structure. If they were good for the life of plants 



one might pass over their other defects, but when 



made, as they often are, of cement, and even of natural stone 



so that the plants grow with great difficulty, owing chiefly to the 



stones overhanging so as to leave dry and dusty recesses, the 



result is bad. 



