PART II.] 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



169 



to the original specimen of A. glandulosa, 

 sent by Prof. Regel, of the St Petersburg 

 Botanic Gardens, from the Altai Moun- 

 tains. It is a different plant from the 

 A. glandulosa jucunda, being more than 

 twice as tall, and in every way more 

 robust. The specimen at Kew is nearly 

 one and a half times the height of the 

 large folio paper in which it is preserved, 

 ana the flower measures 4^ inches in 

 diameter. The plants in Kew Gardens 

 are not this variety the true variety 

 of A. glandulosa, and, as far as I know, 

 it is not to be found with any of our 

 Nurserymen." 



Aquilegia glauca (Grey-leaved Colum- 

 bine). A distinct and interesting plant, 

 though not so showy as some of the other 

 kinds. It grows from 18 inches to 2 feet 

 high, with glaucous foliage, the spurs of 

 the flowers being rather short and red, 

 and shading into the pale yellow of the 

 other parts of the flower. 



A. Skinneri (Skinner's Columbine). A. 

 distinct and beautiful kind, the flowers 

 on slender pedicels, the sepals being 

 greenish, the petals small and yellow ; 

 the spurs nearly 2 inches long, of a 

 bright orange-red, and attenuated into 

 a slightly-incurved club-shaped point, the 

 leaves glaucous, their divisions sharply 

 incised ; the flower-stems 18 inches to 

 2 feet high. Though coming from so far 

 south as Guatemala, owing to the fact 

 that it is met with in the higher mountain 

 districts, it is nearly, if not quite, hardy. 

 Here, again, crossing steps in, and too 

 frequently mars its beauty. While the 

 name may be often seen, the plant is 

 rare, nor are the conditions that insure 

 its thriving well known, if they exist with 

 us. It is a late bloomer. 



A. Stuarti (Stuart's Columbine). This, 

 a cross between the true A. glandulosa 

 and A. Witmanni, was raised by the 

 late Dr Stuart, who tells us that it is, 

 in his opinion, an improved form of A. 

 glandulosa, refined in colouring, free 

 flowering, very large and attractive. It 

 is perfectly hardy, flowers three weeks 

 before any other Columbine, and always 

 comes true from seed. He recommends 

 that a bed be trenched 2 feet deep, with 

 plenty of manure in the bottom, sowing 



the seed in rows, and allowing the seed- 

 lings to flower where they are to stand. 

 The plants may be thinned out to 8 

 inches apart, allowing 12 inches between 

 the rows. In time the foliage will cover 

 the entire bed, and the plants will pro- 

 duce an abundance of bloom. By top- 

 dressing in the autumn the plants improve 

 in vigour every season, a three-year-old 

 bed being a mass of bloom. 



Aquilegia viridiflora (Green Colum- 

 bine). A modest and pretty kind, with 

 sage-green flowers. Out-of-doors in the 

 border the plant may not be noticed, but if 

 a flowering spray or two be cut and 

 placed in a small glass, its beauty of form 

 and colour too, may be seen. There is a 

 variety of it, known as A. atropurpurea, 

 of which the sepals are green, the petals 

 deep chocolate. The plant is a strong 

 grower, a native of Siberia, and is the 

 same as Fischer's A. dahurica. It has 

 a delicate fragrance, too. It is a rare 

 plant in gardens. Seed. 



A. vulgaris (Common Columbine). The 

 only native Columbine, and as beautiful, 

 I think, as some of the rarer alpine kinds, 

 and no one who has once seen it wild, 

 will readily forget its beauty. It would 

 be most desirable also to select and fix 

 varieties of the Common Columbine of 

 good distinct colours. Being a native of 

 mountain woods and copses, this may be 

 grouped with good effect in the shrubby 

 part of the rock-garden. The best white 

 form of this plant is a beautiful and 

 stately Columbine, which sows itself 

 freely in various positions when once 

 brought into the garden, and looks well 

 wherever it comes. The hybrid forms 

 raised in gardens and much grown and 

 talked of, are not so beautiful as this and 

 other wild kinds. 



ARABIS (Rock Cress). Early and 

 brave, these mountain plants have 

 few of striking importance for the 

 rock-garden, and these are of "easy cul- 

 ture, and increase so free, indeed, that 

 they are grown as edgings, and often 

 fall over cottage garden banks and 

 rough walls, giving pretty effects. 

 In this family, it may be that, as the 



