794 SAXIFRAGA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



SAXIFRAC-A. 



interesting garden might be made of 

 Saxifrages alone. For the purposes of 

 cultivation some rough division is con- 

 venient, as Saxifrages are very different | 

 in aspect and uses. The most ordinary 

 form is the Mossy or hypnoides section, | 

 of which there are many kinds in cultiva- 

 tion. Their delicate Moss-like spreading 

 tufts of foliage, so freshly green, especi- 

 ally in autumn and winter, when most 

 plants decay, and their countless white 

 flowers in spring, make them very pre- 

 cious. They are especially suited for the 

 tasteful practice of carpeting the bare 

 ground beneath taller plants. They are 

 also admirable for the fresh green hue 

 with which they clothe rocks and banks 

 in winter. Next to these we may place 

 the very extensive silvery group. These 

 have their grayish leathery leaves mar- 

 gined with dots of white, so as to give to 

 the whole a silvery character. This 

 group is represented by such kinds as S. 

 Aizoon and the great pyramidal-flowering 

 S. Cotyledon of the Alps. Considering 

 the freedom with which they grow in all 

 cool climates, even on level ground, and 

 their beauty of flower and foliage, they 

 are perhaps the most precious group of 

 alpine flowers we possess. Anybody with 

 a cottage garden can grow them. The 

 London Pride section is another of great 

 beauty, the plants thriving under ordinary 

 conditions in lowland gardens, and soon 

 naturalising themselves in lowland w r oods 

 and copses. But the most brilliant, so 

 far as flower is concerned, are found in 

 the purple Saxifrage (S. oppositifolia) 

 group and its near allies. Here we have 

 tufts of splendid colour in spring with 

 dwarfness and perfect hardiness. The 

 large leathery-leaved group, of which the 

 Siberian S. crassifolia is best known, is 

 also of much importance ; the plants 

 thriving in ordinary soil and on the level 

 ground. There are various minor groups. 

 Such of the smaller and rarer alpine 

 species as require any particular attention 

 should be planted in moist sandy loam 

 mingled with grit and broken stone, and 

 made very firm. Very dwarf and rather 

 slow-growing kinds, like S. cassar and S. 

 aretioides, should be surrounded by half- 

 buried pieces of stone, to prevent their 

 being trampled on or overrun. Stone 

 will also help to preserve the ground in a 

 moist healthy condition in the dry season, 

 when the plants are most likely to suffer. 

 Very dry winds in spring sometimes have 

 a bad effect when such precautions are 

 not taken. Established tufts are apt to 

 throw out stem-roots into their own 

 cushions, so to say. These cushions are 



frequently moist during the autumn and 

 winter months. When the tufts are 

 suddenly dried, the plants suffer if the 

 ground-roots be dried too. 



The following are among the most im- 

 portant cultivated kinds, though the list 

 excludes many species that are difficult 

 to grow or to procure, and which are 

 found only in very full collections. 



S. aizoides. A native plant, very 

 abundant in Scotland, the north of Eng- 

 land, and some parts of Ireland, and 

 generally found in wet places and by the 

 sides of mountain rills or streams. At 

 the end of summer or in autumn it has 

 an abundance of flowers, \ in. across, 

 bright yellow, dotted with red towards 

 the base. It forms dense masses of 

 dwarf bright green leaves, and has leafy 

 branched flower-stems, which distinguish 

 it from other yellow Saxifrages. Although 

 a mountain plant, it is easy to grow in 

 lowland gardens in moist ground. Wher- 

 ever a rill or streamlet is introduced into 

 the rock-garden or its neighbourhood, S. 

 aizoides may be planted to form wide- 

 spreading masses, as it does on its native 

 mountains. Easily propagated by division 

 or by seed. Syn., S. autumnalis. 



S. Aizoon is a good rock, border, and 

 edging plant. Plants established for two 

 or three years form gray-silvery tufts, 

 which do not flower so freely as the wild 

 plants, but this need not be regretted, as 

 it is the silvery mass, and not the flowers, 

 that is sought. This Rockfoil is often 

 grown in pots, but it flourishes as freely 

 as any native plant, and is best perhaps 

 when exposed to the full sun. There 

 are several named varieties. S. pectinata, 

 S. Hosti, S. intacta, S. rosularis minor, S. 

 australis, S. cartilaginea, and others are 

 only slight variations from the type. 

 Division in spring. 



S. Andrews!. Among the green- 

 leaved Saxifrages there is no better kind 

 than this. Its flowers are freely pro- 

 duced, prettily spotted, and larger than 

 those of S. umbrosa. The plant is finer 

 in the rock-garden than London Pride, 

 grows as freely on any border soil, and 

 merely requires to be replanted occasion- 

 ally, when it spreads into very large tufts, 

 or to have a dressing of fine light compost 

 sprinkled over it annually. The variety 

 Guthrieana is distinct from the Pyrenees. 



S. aretioides. A real gem of the en- 

 crusted section, forming cushions of 

 silvery rosettes about \ in. high, and 

 almost as small and dense as those of 

 Androsace helvetica. It has rich golden- 

 yellow flowers, in April, on stems a little 

 more than i in. high, which remind one 



