298 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



RHAMNUS ALPINA. Among 

 these shrubs there is one tiny thing 

 which is of some value for the rock- 

 garden, as it spreads its small shining 

 leaves over the rocks, clasping them 

 close ; the flowers are the most 

 unattractive imaginable, but we have 

 so many ugly ill-placed stones in a rock- 

 garden, that anything which throws a 

 veil over them we may have a place for. 



R. Perieri is a dwarf form of the ever- 

 green Rliamnus, useful for the rock-garden, 

 where evergreen effects are sought. 



RHEXIA VIRGINICA (Meadow 

 Beauty}. An American plant of the 

 Melastoma order, hardy, forming little 

 bushes, 6 to 12 inches high ; the 

 stems square, with wing-like angles; 

 the flowers rosy purple, in summer and 

 early autumn. A native of North 

 America, from a considerable distance 

 north of New York to Virginia, and 

 westward to Illinois and the Missis- 

 sippi, usually in sandy swamps. It 

 is very rare, indeed, to see it well 

 grown in this country, though no plant 

 is better for the bog-garden. The only 

 place I noticed this plant invariably 

 doing well was in Osborn's old Nursery, 

 at Fulham, in beds of moist sandy 

 peat. Deep, sandy, boggy soil, with 

 moisture at all times, will suit it 

 best. Careful division. There are 

 other kinds, natives of Eastern North 

 America, but probably tender, owing to 

 their more southern habitats ; whereas 

 this kind, proved to be hardy in our 

 climate, grows as far north as Maine. 



RHODIOLA. Plants of the 

 Crassula family, resembling some of 

 the larger Stonecrops. They have 

 fleshy leaves and heads of small 

 flowers, which are not, however, very 

 attractive. 



RHODODENDRON. - This noble 

 family of shrubs, which we see so often 



massed in not very pretty ways, has 

 great claims on the rock gardener, 

 for many of the species are true 

 mountain plants, like those of the 

 Alps of Europe, America, India, and 

 China. In the first part of this book 

 there is a striking instance of the use 

 of the Rhododendron in natural rock 

 ground, and the many parts of our 

 country, where such ground occurs, 

 afford beautiful opportunities for like 

 effects, even when we are dealing with 

 the ordinary stout-growing kinds. 

 But on the mountains of Asia and 

 China, as well as Europe, there are 

 dwarfer and more alpine kinds, which 

 may be used even in the smaller sort 

 of rock-garden. The main precaution 

 to take in all cultivation of Rhodo- 

 dendrons in choice gardens is not to 

 have anything to do with the usual 

 grafting on ponticum, because, if we 

 plant in any bold way, and do not 

 continually watch the suckers, the 

 shoots of R. pontic.um will come up 

 and kill the kinds we want. So 

 always, in rock-gardens at least, 

 insist on having plants from layers, 

 and most kinds are easily increased 

 in this way. 



Rhododendron fermgineum and hir- 

 sutum, each bearing the name of "Alpine. 

 Rose," and which often terminate the 

 woody vegetation on the great mountain 

 of chains Europe, are easily had in our 

 Nurseries, and well suited for the rock- 

 garden in open peat soil. R. Wilsonianum, 

 myrtifolium, amcenum, hybridum, danri- 

 cumatrovirens, Gowenianum, odoratum, and 

 Torlonianum, are also dwarf kinds, which 

 may be used in the bush rock-garden the 

 last two very sweetly scented. In some 

 soils the alpine kinds are not easily 

 established, owing in part to our often 

 very snowless winters. Place among flat 

 stones in cool ground where possible. 



RHODORA CANADENSIS (Cana- 

 dian Rhodora). An early flowering 

 allied to the Rhododendron. 



