THE AIM OF A ROGK GARDEN 3 



of none have I found such real and lasting enjoyment 

 as of the rock-garden flowers. 



As a rule they are so miniature that one's heart 

 goes out to them at once; they seem to demand the 

 utmost care and delicate attentions. Then one can grow 

 so many alpines in a small piece of ground that there 

 is no need for a gigantic rock garden for the accommoda- 

 tion of even a representative selection. With the help 

 of the moraine the very latest thing in gardening one 

 may have a miniature alpine garden in a suburban back 

 yard. It has long been commonly thought that big 

 rock masses are essential to success with the high alpine 

 flowers, and the idea has spread and become deeply rooted 

 that rock gardening is a recreation for the wealthy 

 possessed of extensive grounds. Nothing is farther 

 from the truth. Providing your garden gets the precious 

 sunshine which someone has described as the life and 

 soul of a garden of flowers then there is no reason at 

 all why you should not fill it with the choicest jewels 

 that bedeck the mountain ranges of the wide world. 

 This sounds like exaggerated phrase, but it is the plain 

 unvarnished truth. Some of the alpines are ridiculously 

 easy, most of them respond admirably to a little extra- 

 ordinary care, while those few that are tantalising well, 

 they can very well wait until one's knowledge has reached 

 such a stage that one is able to estimate and to satisfy 

 their needs. It is, then, true that the size of the rock 

 garden is no just measure of its capacity for giving 

 pleasure. 



