SAXIFRAGA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



SAXIFRAGA. 



799 



other in foliage and flowers. The latter, 

 about the size of a shilling, form dense 

 white masses in early summer. After 

 flowering, this species forms buds on the 

 stems, which remain dormant till the fol- 

 lowing spring. Though rare, it is of easy 

 culture. Similar, but finer, is S. Wallacei, 

 which is far more robust, earlier, and freer 

 as regards flowering, but which does not 

 develop buds during summer. It is a 

 most desirable plant for the border or the 

 rock-garden, and easily propagated. Pot- 

 fuls of this are pretty as the flowers are 

 large, and so free as to form a mass of 

 white. 



S. muscoides (Mossy Saxifrage}. A 

 beautiful little plant, forming a dense 

 bright green carpet like S. hypnoides and 

 S. caespitosa. There are several forms of 

 it, but the best is atro-purpurea, which 

 produces a dense mass of deep red-purple 

 blossoms on stalks a few inches high. The 

 varieties pygmasa and crocea are pretty, 

 also the allied kinds S. exarata, S. pede- 

 montana, S. Rhei, S. aromatica, and a few 

 others ; they grow in almost any soil. 



S. oppositifolia. It is impossible to 

 speak too highly of the beauties of this 

 bright little mountain-plant, in colour and 

 in habit so distinct from the familiar 

 members of its family. The moment the 

 snow melts, its tiny herbage glows into 

 solid sheets of purplish-rose colour. Of 

 the several varieties that known as splen- 

 dens has flowers of far greater brilliancy, 

 though slightly smaller than those of the 

 type ; in bud especially the colour is 

 almost carmine and exquisitely beautiful. 

 In density of bloom it approaches the 

 typical form, but rarely equals it. This 

 variety was obtained many years ago on 

 the mountains of Scotland. S. o. major 

 has flowers twice the size of the type, 

 clear rose, inclining to cherry, and has 

 less of a purple tinge. In S. o. pyrenaica 

 the shoots are twice as robust as those of 

 any of the preceding kinds, and the flowers 

 larger. Its finest form is S. o. p. maxima, 

 which has lovely light rose blossoms as 

 large as a shilling. S. o. alba has white 

 flowers, in pleasing contrast to the other 

 varieties. S. Rudolphiana has a more 

 spreading habit of growth, and its rosy- 

 purple flowers are sometimes borne singly, 

 and sometimes (though rarely) in pairs. 

 It is allied to S. biflora, the beautiful 

 dwarf species of loose habit, the flowers of I 

 which, on clusters of two to four, vary | 

 from a bright rose to a deep blood-red, the 

 petals narrow and wide apart. S. Kochi 

 is similar in habit to this, and its rosy- 

 purple flowers are in twos and fours at the 

 extremities of the shoots. The foliage of 



S. retusa is very short, firm, dense, and 

 compact, the small flowers being borne in 

 clusters at the extremity of erect stalks ; 

 and their narrow petals are usually a pale 

 rose colour, sometimes brighter. It blooms 

 rather later than the varieties of S. opposi- 

 tifolia. S. Wulfeniana is closely allied to 

 S. Kochi. S. oppositifolia and its varieties 

 succeed in deep, open, rich, loamy soil, 

 and are finest in a fissure or on a ledge of 

 the rock-garden, where the roots can 

 ramble backwards or down to any depth. 

 For the soil, a rich light loam mixed with 

 fragments of limestone or grit, small frag- 

 ments of any rock, and a little river sand 



Group of Silvery Rockfoils. 



will do. S. oppositifolia must have sun- 

 shine ; for though it will grow in the shade, 

 it will not flower freely. The same treat- 

 ment, with the addition of a little peat or 

 vegetable mould, suits S. retusa and S. 

 Wulfeniana. The Tyrolese species (S. 

 biflora, S. Rudolphiana, and S. Kochi) are 

 less easy to please. They grow wild on 

 the moraines of glaciers, where light 

 vegetable soil, sand, and debris of every 

 kind blend with massive rocks, coating 

 the surface, and filling the interstices 

 where water drips or oozes around, and 

 frequently flows in volume within 2 or 3 ft. 

 so as to soak the bases of the rocks on 

 which their rosy carpet is spread. They 

 will grow in pots, but rarely with the 

 same freedom as the varieties of S. op- 

 positifolia. 



S. peltata. The shield-like leaves of 



