46 ALPINE FLOWERS [PART I. 



is one of the best wall-plants, and sows itself every year. 

 Ramondia and Edelweiss both love to grow wedged tightly in 

 among the stones. 



"A WALL MADE FOR ROCK PLANTS. 



" Having that worst of all things in a garden viz. a rubbish 

 and manure-yard somewhat exposed to a public road it became 

 a necessity to erect a shelter wall, so as to secure more privacy 

 and to conceal from the public gaze a sort of laboratory 

 necessary in every garden. Having that old proverb about 

 'two birds with one stone' in my mind's eye, I resolved to 

 make the wall not only a shelter, but also an object pleasant to 

 the eye as well. This has now been done fairly well, as I 

 imagine, by the building of a hollow wall topped with tie or 

 binding stones, and pocketed for the reception of soil and 

 plants, as shown in the diagrams on page 44, made to a scale 

 of half an inch to the foot. In such a plant-wall the principle 

 is everything, and the proportions may be varied to suit any 

 special conditions, circumstances, or surroundings. The wall is 

 a little over 4 feet high and over 2 feet through, and 30 yards or 

 40 yards in length. Having filled up the hollow centre of the 

 wall with suitable soil, I planted the top with Iris of the I. 

 germanica and the I. pumila sections, with Cloves, Carnations, 

 Pinks, Linarias, Aubrietias, Stonecrops, Edelweiss, and Semper- 

 vivums ; but I am especially anxious to see established on its 

 face a group of the Californian Zauschneria, which does not 

 always flower well with me on the ground level, except during 

 very hot, dry summers. 



" A wall of the above size may be made by any man handy 

 at stonework, and at no great cost. The stones I was very, 

 fortunate in procuring almost free of charge, and every one of 

 them is precious, as having originally formed a portion of the 

 Trinity College Library, removed during alterations. They 

 have come from the world of books into a world of flowers, and 

 in a short time they will, I hope, be crowned with blossoms and 

 green leaves. F. W. B." 



