PART II.] 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



277 



native of rocky hills in Kentucky and 

 Illinois. 



Phlox stellaria. 



_ PHYTEUMA (Hampton). Peren- 

 nial plants of the Bellflower order, 

 some of them good rock-plants. 



Phyteuma comosum (Rock P.). A 

 dwarf distinct alpine plant, with sea-green 

 leaves and flattish heads of flowers very 

 large for the size of the plant ; in summer, 

 blue, on very short stalks, in large heads. 

 A plant for the choice rock-garden, in 

 dry sunny spots, in well-drained, very 

 sandy or calcareous soil. I have seen this 

 plant growing from small chinks in arid 

 cliff's, where probably no other plant 

 could exist. What Mr A. W. Clarke says 

 of it is worth following : 



" In winter the plant should be fixed 

 tightly between limestone. A layer of 

 fine broken limestone and strong loam 

 two parts limestone, one part loam 

 without any sand, will be a suitable 

 compost. After placing the bottom stone, 

 put a portion of the compost on the stone ; 

 then lay on the plant, leaving plenty of 

 room for the root to go down (as it forms 

 a tap root), then add <i little more compost 

 on the plant before placing on the other 

 stone. Make these a.s tight as possible 

 without injury to the roots or crowns of 



the plant. It should be well looked after 

 in tne spring, so that the slugs do not eat 

 all the crowns away. If the slugs get to 

 the plant they will be sure to eat out the 

 centre crowns, then only a few leaves will 

 appear the following year. Top-dress in 

 the autumn and spring with fine, broken 

 limestone, letting it run well between the 

 stones." Alps. Seed. 



Phyteuma Sieberi is a neat plant for 

 the rock-garden, requiring a moist sunny 

 situation, and a mixture of leaf-mould, 

 peat, and sand. It forms cushion-like 

 tufts, and in May and June has dark-blue 

 flower heads, on stems 4 to 6 inches long.- 

 Division. 



P. humile is a dwarf tufted plant for 

 the rock-garden, where it can get a dry 

 sheltered position in winter, and plenty of 

 water in summer. The flowers are blue, 

 and borne in June on stems 6 inches high. 

 Division. 



P. Channel! and P. Scheuchzeri are 

 much alike, P. Scheuchzeri being dwarf er 

 It bears pretty blue flowers, on stems 

 from 6 to 12 inches in height, and is 

 evergreen. Seed in autumn. 



PIERIS. Usually rather dwarf, or 

 compact, evergreen shrubs, of much 

 distinction and beauty, natives of 

 China, Japan, and North America, 

 important for the rock-garden, if, as I 

 always urge, we give to the hardy 

 northern and mountain shrub its 

 right place in such gardens. Where, 

 as so often happens in Scotland, 

 Ireland, Wales, and in many districts 

 in England, the natural rock breaks 

 out, and peaty or sandy soil occurs in 

 some places, these bushes are most 

 important, and will be found free in 

 such soils. 



The things to be observed are a 

 cool, moist, and not necessarily a peaty 

 soil, always free from lime, as heavy 

 soils can be made to suit them by 

 deep trenching and adding plenty of 

 leaf-mould, with, towards the top, a 

 little peat. The soil in which they 

 grow suits many species of Lilium, 



