32 ALPINE FLOWERS [PART I. 



beds. One of these will give more satisfaction than many a 

 pretentious " rockwork," and by the exercise of a very little 

 judgment is readily constructed, so as not to offend the nicest 

 taste. I once induced the owner of a garden in the northern 

 suburbs of London to procure a small collection of alpines, and 

 try them in this way, and the result was such, that a few words 

 as to how it was attained may be useful. 



A little bed was dug out in the clay soil to the depth of 

 two feet, and a drain run from it to an outlet near at hand ; the 

 bed was filled with sandy peat and a little loam and leaf-mould, 

 and, when nearly full, worn stones of different sizes were placed 

 around the margin, so as to raise the bed one foot or so above 

 the turf. More soil was then put in, and a few rough slabs, 

 arranged so as to crop out from the soil in the centre, completed 

 the preparation for Sedums and Sempervivums, such Saxifrages 

 as S. ccesia and S. Rockeliana, such Dianthuses as D. alpinus 

 and D. petrceus, Mountain Forget-me-nots, Gentians, little early 

 bulbs, Hepatica. They were planted, the finer and rarer things 

 getting the best positions, and, when finished, the bed looked 

 a nest of small rocks and alpine flowers. 



In about eight weeks the plants had become established, 

 and the bed looked quite gay from a dozen plants of Calandrinia 

 umbellata, that had been planted on the little prominences, 

 flowering profusely. Another was made in the same manner, 

 with more loam, however, and planted with subjects as different 



Small Bed of Alpine Flowers. 



from those in the other bed as could be got; confining them, 

 however, to the choicest alpines, except on the outer side of the 

 largest stones of the margin, where such plants as Campanula 

 carpatica licolor were planted with the best results. 



