216 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



Where we are dealing with nursery or cut flower beds, borders 

 in the kitchen garden or elsewhere, no such objection to the con- 

 tinuous edging holds. And in such cases those who use plants have 

 a great variety to choose from : Strawberries, wild, Quatre-saison,and 

 any favourite larger sort ; Rockfoils of this rich and varied family 

 the Mossy Rockfoils make soft and excellent green margins to beds 

 of hardy flowers ; Houseleeks, Stonecrops, Gentianella, which forms 

 such a fine evergreen edging in cool soils ; Tufted Pansies, Thrift, 

 purple Rock-Cresses which are among the most precious of rock 

 flowers for evergreen edgin.es, and bloom often throughout the spring ; 



White Pink edging. 



dwarf Speedwells, Edelweiss in open country gardens where it thrives ; 

 alpine Phloxes, Sun Roses, Arabis, evergreen Candytuft, excellent as 

 a permanent margin to bold mixed groups of spring flowers and 

 shrubs ; Pinks, both white and coloured, pretty on warm and free 

 soils, but useless where they are hurt in winter ; Daisies and Poly- 

 anthuses and garden Primroses : in Scotland and cool places, the 

 rosy and some of the Indian Primroses make beautiful edgings. 

 Dwarf Hairbells, and some of the silvery or striped Grasses and 

 Moneyworts may also be used. There is, in fact, scarcely a limit to 

 the choice one may make from the more free and vigorous rock and 

 alpine flowers, the choice being governed by the nature of the soil, 

 rainfall, and elevation, or closeness to the sea, which is so often kind 

 to plants slow or tender in inland situations, like some of the grey 

 Rock Scabious which form such pretty marginal plants where they 

 thrive. 



