THE MORAINE 45 



chrome reproduction can give no idea of the brilliancy 

 of the flowers of this lovely little plant, which are of a 

 dazzling azure blue with a yellow eye. The leaves 

 arranged in tufts are extremely small and covered with 

 fine hairs. The whole plant is scarcely one half an 

 inch high. It is reputed to be one of the very difficult 

 Alpines to cultivate, and naturally it is therefore the 

 desire of the Alpine gardener to be successful with it. 

 It conies from very high altitudes and intensely dislikes 

 moisture on its foliage. 



Some measure of success will usually attend plant- 

 ing it, as in the moraine it will have ample root 

 moisture all through the growing season, with a per- 

 fectly dry crown when dormant it is also advisable 

 to arrange either a partially overhanging stone, or a 

 piece of glass, in such as way as to throw off the bulk of 

 the rain, even in summer time, and such is of course a 

 necessity during winter. Some growers also advise 

 covering the tufts with fine dry silver sand during 

 the dormant season, in addition to the foregoing 

 protection against wet. 



I was extremely pleased to see my little plant flower 

 so well last spring, and one of the most humorous 

 comments I ever heard in reference to my garden was 

 made in connection with it. I was showing it, with 

 great pride, to a friend, who was not an Alpine plant 

 grower, and explaining to him how difficult a plant 



