PART II.] 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



155 



spines : hence its name. It is distinct in 

 appearance from anything else in cultiva- 

 tion, and merits a place on some not over- 

 valued spot on the rock-garden. It 

 is readily increased from cuttings. S. 

 Europe. 



Alyssum pyrenaicum is a neat rock- 

 plant, with white fragrant flowers ; a good 

 rock-garden plant. 



A. serpyllifolium is a grey-green leaved 

 kind with yellow flowers. Small plants 

 quickly become Liliputian bushes, 3 inches 

 to 6 inches high ; and, fully exposed, are 

 almost as compact as moss. 



A. maritimum (Sweet Alyssum), is a 

 small annual with white flowers, growing on 

 the tops of walls in the west country, and in 

 sandy places. In these situations it is 

 perennial, but in gardens is grown as an 

 annual, sowing itself freely, and is for 

 covering bare spaces as well worth a place 

 as any. 



The taller kinds of Alyssum are not 

 well suited for the rock-garden. 



A. podolicum is a small alpine plant 

 from S. Kussia. It has in early summer 

 many small white blossoms, and is suited for 

 the rock-garden or walls. 



ANAGALIS (Pimpernel).-Pretty 



dwarf plants, chiefly half-hardy annuals, 

 the best known of which is the Italian 

 Pimpernel (A. Monelli), with large 

 blossoms of a deep blue, shaded with 

 rose. There being several varieties of 

 this, they are among the annual flowers 

 I should recommend where bare spaces 

 occur in rock-garden, pending the 

 coming of good perennial rock-plants. 



Anagalis tenella is a native plant found 

 in bogs, bearing slender stems with small 

 round leaves, among which are tiny pink 

 flowers. It may be grown easily in the 

 bog- or rock-garden, or anywhere where 

 the soil is moist and spongy, and the 

 vegetation dwarf and fragile like itself. 



ANDROMEDA. Various bushy 

 plants usually called Andromeda in 

 gardens, belong strictly to several other 

 genera. There is only one true species 

 of Andromeda known 



A. polifolia. It is a pretty little grey 



bush, grouped in peat beds or in the 

 bog garden. 



For allied plants usually known as 

 Andromeda, see Cassandra, Cassiope, 

 Leucothoe, Lyonia, Pieris, and Zenobia. 



ANDROSACE. Tiny plants of the 

 higher alps, often growing at elevations 

 where the snow falls early in autumn, 

 they flower as soon as it melts, grow- 

 ing on cliffs with a vertical face, or 

 with portions of the face receding 

 here and there into shallow recesses. 

 Here they endure intense cold cold 

 which would destroy all shrub or 

 tree life exposed to it. They are 

 almost sure to perish in a smoky 

 atmosphere ; their small evergreen 

 leaves, often downy, retain more dust 

 and soot than larger-leaved evergreen 

 alnine plants do. The Androsaces 

 enjoy in cultivation small fissures 

 between rocks or stones, firmly packed 

 with pure sandy or gritty loam, not 

 less than 15 inches deep. They should 

 be so placed that no wet can gather 

 or lie about them, and they should 

 be so planted in between stones that, 

 once well rooted into the deep earth 

 all the better if mingled with pieces 

 of broken sandstone they could never 

 suffer from drought. A few kinds 

 will do on level borders, such as A. 

 sarmentosa, they are usually the jewels 

 for the most carefully made and tended 

 rock-gardens. 



Androsace alpina. This is a lovely 

 little plant, but difficult to grow. It likes 

 rather a moist place, and shaded from the 

 hot sun, although it loves moisture at its 

 roots. The plant must not be kept damp 

 overhead ; all the moisture must be 

 directed to the roots, and so arranged as 

 to allow of its free escape again. Syn., 

 ciliata. 



A. brigantica. A handsome little 

 kind, with pure white flowers, the foliage 

 deep green. It loves to grow on sandy 

 slopes, shaded from the melting sun. 



