BANKS AND SLOPES IN GARDENS 11 



leaves. The creeping Phloxes are not so patient of 

 drought as the other plants here mentioned, but they 

 will grow well on a bank if the soil is fairly rich, or if 

 they are protected by a rock above them; and they 

 are among the most brilliant and beautiful of our 

 spring flowers. Nothing, in fact, can exceed the 

 beauty of large tufts of Phlox Vivid and Phlox Nel- 

 soni, with their mossy habit of growth and their sheets 

 of pink and white flowers. 



There are some southern plants that do not thrive 

 in the ordinary border, but flourish amazingly on 

 very hot sandy banks looking full south. Among 

 these are Calandrinia umbellata, a little plant of the 

 purslane tribe, with flowers of the most brilliant crim- 

 son magenta colour. This should be raised from seed, 

 and it will usually seed itself freely every year. Cal- 

 lirhoe involucrata is another plant of the same habits; 

 it can be raised from seed to flower the same year, 

 and is of rapid growth, spreading over a great space 

 of ground. It flowers for a long time, and often dies 

 after flowering; but this matters little, as it can be 

 so easily reproduced. Several of the Aethionemas 

 also will grow well on dry sunny banks, particularly 

 A. grandiflorum, A. pulchellum, and A. coridifolium. 

 These are true rock plants, near to candytuft, but 

 with glaucous leaves and delicate pink flowers, and 

 they are the better for a few small rocks about them. 

 They should be planted in spring, or, if raised from 

 spring-sown seed, as soon in the summer as they are 

 fit to move. 



Many bulbs will thrive on a steep dry slope, partic- 



