CHAPTER II 

 Rock-Garden Flowers 



TRUE alpine flowers are those that grow wild high on 

 the mountains of the globe, where, through long 

 ages, they have adapted themselves to the conditions of 

 their environment. A long, long winter is theirs, during 

 which they lie deep-covered with a warm mantle of frozen 

 snow. In spring, at the melting of the snows, they are 

 supplied with abundant moisture that, together with in- 

 creasing warmth, brings them into bloom in an incredibly 

 short time. The summer, though comparatively brief, is 

 hot and dry, and the heat is intensified by the rarefied atmo- 

 sphere of the high elevations at which the alpines grow ; 

 were it not for their deep roots, the close-matted foliage 

 which lessens evaporation, or the herbage that grows up 

 about some of them, they would fare badly. As it is 

 they suffer from no lack of moisture at the root. Late in 

 summer snow again falls and they are kept warm and dry 

 throughout the winter months. Thus they have a short 

 season in which to grow, flower, and ripen seeds in order 

 that their kind may be perpetuated. 



How different are the conditions in this country ! 

 Instead of the perfect winter rest they enjoy on the 

 mountains, the alpine flowers are subjected to the changes 



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