70 ROCK GARDENING 



best wild gardening costs less than any other style of gardening. 

 All the plants mentioned in this article are hardy perennials, which 

 ought to multiply with little or no care after becoming established, 

 as the whole object of wild gardening is to produce large, permanent 

 colonies such as glorified the woods, rocks, and meadows when the 

 first white men came to this country. 



This method of buying plants solves the hardest problem of 

 all, viz., that of expense. For people will not pay as much to 

 develop rocks, woods, and other wild places as for the immediate 

 environment of the house. That is right, too. But the great 

 trouble with American estates is that owners rarely see the ne- 

 cessity of having a comprehensive plan for the development of the whole 

 place. They prefer to start with one or two details. They build 

 a fine house and garden, and when the bill for the latter comes in 

 they exclaim, "Heavens! if it costs this much to treat one 

 little piece of ground what would it cost to develop the whole 

 estate?" So they neglect the wild places, which may fill up 

 with brambles, burrs, poison ivy, or other uncomfortable and ugly 

 features. 



The six most popular rock plants in England, as nearly as I can 

 judge, are primroses, pinks, saxifrages, purple rock cress (Aubrie- 

 tia), and the rock roses (Cistus and Helianthemum). Broadly 

 speaking, I believe we can never rely on these for large effects, 

 except in the case of pinks. (See plate 30.) I am rather glad 

 that most of these flowers will not flourish permanently in America, 

 except on a first-class rockery, for no country ought to imitate the 

 landscape effects of a radically different climate. From the list of 

 wild flowers given above I hope we can develop an American style 

 of rock gardening. That style, I believe, must grow out of the 

 following facts: Our summer is hot and dry; summer is our 



