2 ROGK GARDENING FOR AMATEURS 



the beginner in gardening is apt to be alarmed when 

 he attempts their cultivation. Yet this is a pursuit 

 that exercises an immense fascination over its devotees, 

 and their number is increasing every year ; it is certain 

 that the beginner has only to cross the threshold to make 

 a start with those that are as easily grown as a rose 

 and he will have discovered a new and very real delight 

 in gardening. 



I remember the time when the very name of Saxi- 

 frage was sufficient to create a nightmare of despair, 

 the horrible feeling that arises when one attempts to 

 tackle a subject that is foreign and bristling with diffi- 

 culties. But no sooner have you put in a bit of Mossy 

 Saxifrage and wonderingly watched it grow and grow 

 until it forms a fairy carpet of evergreen foliage, studded 

 in spring with pink or red or white blossoms, and all 

 without further attention on the gardener's part, than 

 bewilderment becomes merged in admiration, and Saxifrage 

 is no longer a name but the symbol of a lovely and 

 bewitching plant that responds readily to the most 

 ordinary care. Subsequently you discover that there 

 are Silvery Saxifrages, close-tufted, creeping plants with 

 hard, silvery-margined leaves, that spread an enchanting 

 grey cushion over the rocks at the instance of a little 

 further care. Thus your acquaintance with Saxifrage 

 makes rapid progress and soon borders on intimacy, 

 while your doubt and dismay correspondingly disappear. 

 During many gardening years I have grown all sorts 

 and conditions of flowers and fruits, yet in the tending 



