112 SPRING FLOWERS 



have consummated some execrable results in magenta, 

 which should be rigidly suppressed. There, surely, is no 

 occasion to multiply flowers of this disagreeable hue, 

 which already prevails unduly among natural species. 



The yellow madwort (Alyssum saxatile) is most com- 

 monly assigned as a companion to purple aubrietas, 

 and a fine cheerful thing it is ; but if you would avoid 

 monotony a sin which doth chiefly beset gardeners 

 try for a change the trailing Waldsteinia trifoliata, 

 a near relative of the strawberry. It takes a year 

 longer than the inadwort to establish itself, but its 

 golden cataract is worth waiting for. Preferable also 

 to madwort, and less commonly seen, is the beautiful 

 alpine wallflower (Cheiranthus or Erysimum alpinum) 

 from the ' dais ' of Scandinavia. Cerastium tomentosum 

 supplies mounds of pearly hoar, but for pure white 

 there is nothing more dazzling than Arenaria mon- 

 tana, Saxifraga Wallacei, and the variety of Phlox 

 subulata called ' Nelsorii.' Arabis albida should be 

 avoided ; the only member of that rather coarse family 

 to be desired is A. aubrietioides, which drapes a steep 

 bank into a charming shower of blush pink ; its only 

 fault is in the brevity of its display. 



Skyblue of the purest can be had from the easy 

 alpine forget-me-not (Myosotis alpestris), which has 

 sported into an exquisite form known as ' Queen 

 Victoria ' ; but to succeed with the variety rupicola, a 

 miniature of alpestris in everything except the size of 

 its flowers, requires prolonged experience of the vagaries 

 of plants from high altitudes. It is easy to prescribe 

 drought in winter and moisture in summer : the puzzle 



