50 THE STORY OF MY ROCK GARDEN 



young, and when older, their inclination to fall in 

 dazzling cascades of flower, or silvery foliage, down an 

 almost perpendicular face of rock, if planted in such 

 a position whereas, to a consideiable extent, their 

 character is lost if they are permitted to grow on the 

 level. 



Plants like Armeria plantaginea, and Acantholimon 

 glumaceum, to take two examples only, have the power, 

 when raised from seed, of sending enormously long 

 tap roots, often extending three and four feet into the 

 soil, thereby enabling them to exist in a position which, 

 apparently, is in the Summer quite devoid of moisture, 

 and perhaps in a mere crevice in an otherwise unbroken 

 face of rock. 



To illustrate the tap-rooting character of such plants 

 I photographed a specimen of Armeria plantaginea 

 after digging down and exposing the thong-like root 

 as far as I was able, and from the illustration on page 49 

 it will be seen in what an almost fibreless state this 

 root descends, despite the encouragement given it 

 by the proximity of ample soil on all sides. The 

 picture also shows the uselessness of providing merely 

 shallow earth-filled pockets in one's rockery. 



There must be a deep root run of gritty soil for such 

 vigorous deep rooting plants to find a home, and then 

 they will thrive in a way unknown if only given surface 

 soil, where they linger in a half dead state, should the 



