328 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



Veronica Taurica (Taurian Speedwell}. 

 A dwarf, wiry, and almost woody species, 

 forming neat dark-green tufts, under 

 3 inches high ; the flowers a fine gentian- 

 blue. Perhaps the neatest of all rock 

 Veronicas for forming spreading tufts in 

 level spots, or tufts drooping from chinks, 

 hardy, growing in ordinary well-drained 

 garden soil ; flowering in early summer, 

 and suitable for association with the 

 dwarf er alpine shrubs. Tauria ; increased 

 by division or by cuttings. 



V. teucrium (Teucrium Speedwell}. 

 A continental plant, the stems forming 

 spreading masses from 8 inches to a foot 

 high, and covered with flowers of an 

 intense blue in early summer. The 

 flowers are at first in dense racemes, which 

 afterwards become much longer, lower 

 ones pointed. It is an excellent plant 

 for the rock-garden, easily increased by 

 seeds or division, and thriving in ordinary 

 garden soil. 



V. Bidwillii, Guthriana Telephifolia, 

 V. Nummularia, of the Pyrenees, V. 

 aphylla, the neat little bushy V. fruticulosa, 

 V. satureifolia, and V. Candida, with 

 silvery-white leaves, are also worthy of a 

 place ; though, generally, the bloom of 

 the rock Speedwells is not prolonged 

 enough to make them of the first import- 

 ance in the rock-garden. 



NEW ZEALAND VERONICAS. 



The dwarfer kinds of these are scarcely 

 so precious as the taller kinds. In 

 our country away from the sea-shore, 

 even in southern mild districts, they 

 are not hardy, and although they 

 give pretty evergreen effects in the 

 winter, and are distinct and often 

 good in habit, the flower rarely seems 

 worthy of the plant. In fact, in our 

 country they seem to be, with few 

 exceptions, not nearly as well fitted 

 for our rock-gardens as the plants of 

 the Alps and the Rocky Mountains of 

 America. 



Undoubtedly, around the coasts, a 

 good many of the bushy New Zealand 

 kinds can be grown, as this coast 



climate suits them well. But our 

 rock-gardens should be made for plants 

 that will stand any weather; and 

 in this case we should only try the 

 hardier kinds, and those not much 

 until we have proved them. From 

 experiments made at the Royal 

 Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, in 

 1892, the following appeared to be 

 hardy species ; but it should be noted 

 that Edinburgh is under the sea 

 influence, and that its soil is perhaps 

 the most excellent in Britain for out- 

 door plants. 





V. Hectori 

 loganioides 

 lycopodioides 

 cupressoides 

 Armstrongi 

 carnosula 

 pinguifolia 

 amplexicaulis 

 buxifolia 



V. Godefroyana 

 glaucocoerulea 

 Colensoi 

 Traversi 

 rakaiensis 

 monticola 

 pimeleoides 

 linifolia 

 anomala 



VESICARIA UTRICULATA. - A 



half-bushy perennial, with large yellow 

 flowers, not unlike the alpine Wall- 

 flower, but with bladder-like pods. It 

 usually grows from 10 inches to a foot 

 high, a vigorous plant, though it 

 perishes in winter on cold soils. A 

 native of mountains in France, Italy, 

 and Southern Europe generally, usually 

 on calcareous rocks, and most likely 

 to flourish and endure on dry sunny 

 spots or on walls. It is very easily 

 increased from seed. 



V. grceca is a handsome plant, the 

 flowers opening in succession. It is a 

 hardy evergreen perennial, a native of 

 Dahnatia and other places in South 

 Europe. Increased by cuttings placed 

 in soil under a hand-glass and also by 



VICI A ( Vetch). Perennial and 

 annual plants, several of which are 

 natives, and, as I think, worthy of 

 more care than they often get. V. 



