3H THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



in the kitchen garden or elsewhere, no such objection to the con- 

 tinuous edging holds. And in such cases those who use plants have 

 a great variety to choose from : Strawberries, wild, Quatre-saison, and 

 any favourite larger sort ; Rockfoils of this rich and varied family 

 the Mossy Rockfoils make soft and excellent green margins to beds 

 of hardy flowers ; Houseleeks, Stonecrops, Gentianella, which forms 

 such a fine evergreen edging in cool soils ; Tufted Pansies, Thrift, 

 purple Rock-Cresses which are among the most precious of rock flowers 

 for evergreen edgings, and bloom often throughout the spring ; dwarf 

 Speedwells, Edelweiss in open country gardens where it thrives ; 

 alpine Phloxes, Sun Roses, Arabis, evergreen Candytuft, excellent as 



White Pink edging. 



a permanent margin to bold mixed groups of spring flowers and 

 shrubs ; Pinks, both white and coloured, pretty on warm and free soils, 

 but useless where they are hurt in winter ; Daisies and Polyanthuses 

 and garden Primroses : in Scotland and cool places, the rosy and 

 some of the Indian Primroses make beautiful edgings. Dwarf Hare- 

 bells, and some of the silvery or striped Grasses and Moneyworts may 

 also be used. There is, in fact, scarcely a limit to the choice one may 

 make from the more free and vigorous rock and alpine flowers, the 

 choice being governed by the nature of the soil, rainfall, and elevation, 

 or closeness to the sea, which is so often kind to plants slow or tender 

 in inland situations, like some of the grey Rock Scabious which form 

 such pretty marginal plants where they thrive. 



