THE ALPINE FLORA 



needs of the one and the capability of the other. But 

 a word may be in season as to the general planning. 

 First, the result should look natural. This will not be 

 secured by making a servile copy of any scene in nature, 

 if for no other reason because one cannot then plant to 

 a natural scale. The dwarfest Juniper would there out- 

 ape a forest tree of nature, and Thymus serpyllifolium 

 out-rival the mountain Rhododendron. By natural it is 

 meant that the laws of geology, which govern stratifica- 

 tion, etc., must be obeyed, nor may granites, schists and 

 limestone be huddled in one chaotic mass. Arts must 

 preside over it; three in chief, the geotechnic above 

 mentioned, the horticultural, which will see that all is 

 adapted for good growth, the aesthetic, which demands 

 beauty. This brings one back again to scale ; for, in 

 beauty, proportion and harmony of line, unity of meaning 

 in diversity of structure are greater than all effects of 

 colour. Some there are even of alpine plants which are 

 too stately or architectural in habit to be wisely admitted 

 upon our mimic alp (for we may copy an upland pasture, 

 though we may not build a tiny Jungfrau), where the 

 little Junipers and Thymes will now be right in place ; 

 for just as the latter may not dwarf a mimic mountain, 

 so may they not be crushed by the neighbourhood of 

 Gentiana lutea. These majestic, herbaceous alpines 

 must, alas, be something of pariahs, confined to the 

 outskirts Peris excluded from the Paradise. 



All alpine gardens, whether in a single slope, or two 

 facing slopes, or two ridges, or a hollow, are modifica- 

 tions, either by division or combination, of one or more 

 valley forms. However simple in outline, monotony can 

 be avoided by breaking the surface into tributary valleys 



