104 THE STORV OF MY ROCK GARDEN 



and past the rich chocolate and yellow of Cypripedium 

 Calceolus and the stronger patches where the Heli- 

 anthemums lie scorching in the sunshine. 



Then the patches of yellow Sedums take up the tale 

 in burning gold, and contrast their brilliancy with the 

 ringing purple of Campanula pulla and pulloides, only 

 to be hushed into quietness by the fiery note of Anemone 

 fulgens, with its sheaf of coal-black stamens. In a 

 cool bog bay, backed by the great leaves of Senecio 

 clivorum, are the glorious orange globes of Trollius 

 asiaticus, rising above its handsome foliage, while at 

 its base are the rich crimson whorls of Primula pul- 

 verulenta, with its mealy stems, and a little further 

 away P. japonica. 



While in some moist and sunny position, well 

 protected against drought, one catches a glimpse of 

 is it a fragment of the summer sky reflected in some 

 tiny pool ? or a carpet of green strewn with sapphires ? 

 upon closer inspection it rivals even these ! it is 

 Gentiana verna the purest blue flower to be found in 

 the whole world, and yet deigning to give its glorious 

 beauty to even a London garden, and justly taking 

 the position of the presiding deity over the many 

 claimants for that honour during June that month 

 of loveliness in the Alpine garden. No idea of the 

 brilliancy of this charming little plant can be conveyed 

 by a description in words, or even by the artist's 



