40 THE UNHEATED GREENHOUSE 



across, in light sharp soil freely intermingled with nodules of 

 stone some of the larger pieces being only half-sunk beneath 

 the surface, against which the little tufts can nestle. A very 

 pretty specimen may be grown in such a miniature rockery. 

 To increase the stock, when a plant has gone out of flower, a 

 rosette may be snipped off here and there wherever it will be 

 least missed, pressing it gently into a pinch of sharp sand on 

 the surface of the soil. These will soon root, and each will 

 become the nucleus of a healthy tuft. Saxifrages of this 

 section will live in the same pan for a length of time, the bare 

 worn-out pieces being carefully cut away and fresh soil of the 

 nature of pulverised granite added as a surface dressing, but 

 much disturbance of the roots is to be avoided. Very many 

 species of these minute silvery rock- foils may be grown in this 

 way. The mossy kinds, represented by S. camposi, grow 

 much more quickly into good specimens. Amongst the 

 alpine Saxifrages may be found golden-yellow, pale primrose, 

 purple, and pink flowered species, as well as white. S. cotyledon 

 S. pyramidalis and S. nepalensis being only fine varieties of 

 the same which belongs to the encrusted section, makes a 

 noble pot plant in late spring, though few people, for some 

 reason, succeed in growing it well. To form a good specimen, 

 perfect rosettes of the strap-shaped leaves must be chosen for 

 potting singly in three-inch pots "perfect" being said 

 advisedly, as an ill-shaped rosette never produces a fine spike 

 of bloom. These must be kept entirely free from the 

 numberless offsets by which, in its native home, it creeps along 

 the fissures of the rocks. By giving frequent and gradual 

 shifts into larger pots, the plants are encouraged to grow as 

 large as possible before the flowering stems are produced. 

 This may happen either in the second or third season, but if 

 a succession of young plants be kept up by putting in sufficient 

 offsets every year, some are sure to flower every spring, and 

 the tall pyramid of multitudes of milk-white flowers, sometimes 



