PART II.] 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



301 



can plant with thick underground 

 stems, froui which spring large greyish 

 leaves, cut into wavy or toothed 

 lobes, and full of an orange-red and 

 acrid juice. The stems from 4 to 

 8 inches high, each bear a solitary 

 and handsome white flower in March. 

 It grows best in moist places and in 

 rich soil, but, like many other plants, it 

 I dislike to certain soils, and is 

 not always easy to establish; the 

 iiin>t likely places being peaty or leafy 

 hollows. 



SANTOLINA INCANA (Hoary 

 >S'.). A small silvery shrub, with 

 numerous branches and narrow leaves, 

 covered with dense white down, the 

 flowers rather small, pale greenish- 

 yellow, growing readily in ordinary 

 soil, and may be useful on the rock- 

 garden. It is considered a variety of 

 the better-known S. ChamcReyparissus, 

 the Lavender Cotton. This, and its 

 other variety, squarrosa, are suitable 

 for banks, but forming spreading 

 silver>- bushes, 2 feet high, in suitable 

 soil, are not suited for intimate 

 association with very dwarf alpine 

 plants. 



Other species of Santolina are suited 

 for like purposes, S. pedinata and S. 

 riridiit, fanning bushes somewhat like 

 the Lavender Cotton. Santolina alpina 

 is of more alpine habit, forming dense 

 mats quite close to the ground, from 

 which spring yellow button-like flowers 

 on long slender stems. It grows in 

 any soil, and may be used on the less 

 important parts of the rock-garden. 

 Cuttings of the shrubby species strike 

 readily, and S. alpina is easily in- 

 creased by division. 



SAPONARIA (Soapwm-t). Peren- 

 nial herbs and alpine plants or 

 annuals belonging to the Pink 

 family. 



Saponaria Boissieri is a dwarf plant 

 of quick and free growth, somewhat tft*l 

 in character, and spreading out into good- 

 sized plants. It bears freely bright pink 

 flowers. 



S. caespitosa is a neat little alpine 

 perennial from the higher regions of the 

 Pyrenees, flowering in August, but in the 

 lowlands its rose-coloured blossoms appear 

 towards the end of June. It forms rosettes 

 of leaves, the flowers, in a thick cluster, 

 are on short, stout stems. This graceful 

 little plant is valuable for the rock-garden. 

 A sandy soil suits it best, and it endures 

 our winters. 



S. lutea, from Savoy and Piedmont, 

 has yellow flowers and a woolly calyx. 

 The leaves are narrow, and not unlike 

 those of the Alpine Catchfly. 



S. ocymoides. A beautiful trailing 



rock-plant, with prostrate stems and many 



rosy flowers. It is easily raised from seed 



or from cuttings, thrives in almost any 



! soil, and is one of the best plants we have 



for clothing the arid spots, particularly 



where a drooping plant is desired. 



I Although it grows freely in poor soil 



| when it is planted with the view of 



! allowing it to fall freely over the face of 



I the rock, it will do much better by giving 



it a deep, loamy soil. 



SARRACENIA (Pitcher Plant). 

 Growing naturally in turfy bogs in 

 North America and Canada, these very 

 curious perennials, with hollow pitcher- 

 shaped leaves, are hardy so far as 

 temperature is concerned, and we have 

 seen the Trumpet Leaf (S. flava), and 

 the Huntsman's Cup (S. purpurea), 

 growing on spongy peat and sphagnum 

 in Great Britain and Ireland. One 

 point very essential to their success in 

 j the open air in this country is good 

 | shelter. In North America these and 

 many other beautiful bog-plants are 

 sheltered all through the winter by 

 '. deep snow, which alike preserves 

 leaves and root from the sudden 

 extremes so often fatal to their 

 leafage here at home during winter 



