174 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



five black spots on the corolla, which 

 gradually fade to a lighter shade, and 

 finally disappear. It is hardy, succeeds 

 either on the rock-garden or in a well- 

 drained border, and prefers partial 

 shade. It is a native of the Caucasus 

 and Northern Persia, and is best in 

 fine, deep loam. Young plants bloom 

 long, which adds to their charms. 

 Seeds are not freely produced, but it 

 may be increased by cuttings. A. 

 Griffithi is a tender annual, and though 

 pretty, not so valuable as A. echioides. 



ARTEMISIA ( Wormwood). Half 

 shrubby and perennial plants of the 

 steppes, arid plains, and mountains ; 

 of a bitter flavour and pungent odour, 

 and which give a distinct greyish hue 

 to many arid regions, but are often of 

 secondary interest only for the rock- 

 garden. Among a large number of 

 species known, there are many of slight 

 interest for the rock-garden, and a 

 few are neat in habit and pretty in 

 flower, such as the Silvery Wormwood, 

 A. frigida, glacialis, nana, sericea, and 

 Baumgarteni, all of easy culture and 

 increase. 



_ ASARUM (Wild Ginger). Curious 

 little plants resembling Cyclamens in 

 their leaves, but of little garden value. 

 A. canadense is the Canadian Snake- 

 root, which bears in spring curious 

 brownish-purple flowers, the roots 

 being strongly aromatic, like Ginger. 

 A. virginicum is the Heart Snake- 

 root, with leaves thick and leathery, 

 with the upper surface mottled with 

 white. A. caudatum is from Oregon, 

 and much like the others in habit, 

 but the divisions of the flower have 

 long tail-like appendages. A. euro- 

 pceum is the Asarabacca, the flowers 

 being greenish, about J inch long, and 

 appearing close to the ground. The 

 plants are only valuable for the effect 

 of the leaves in dry poor spots. 



ASPERULA ( Woodruff). Dwarf 

 plants of the Bedstraw (Galium} order, 

 so far as known of secondary use in 

 the rock-garden. 



Asperula odorata ( Woodruff). A. little 

 wood plant, abundant in some parts of 

 Britain, is worthy of a place in the rock- 

 garden, in localities where it does not occur 

 wild. It is sometimes used as an edging to 

 the beds in cottage gardens, and it mixes 

 prettily with Ivy where that is allowed to 

 clothe the ground. It belongs to a numer- 

 ous genus of plants, few, however, of which 

 are worth a place among the choicer 

 rock-plants. 



A. azurea setosa is a pretty early spring 

 flowering hardy blue annual, flowering 

 in April and May. Sow the previous 

 autumn. A. cynanchica is a rosy red 

 perennial, a good rough rock plant. 



ASTER (Starwort).A beautiful 

 family of northern plants, chiefly 

 American, but also some, and among 

 the handsomest, European. Although 

 mostly tall and often too vigorous, 

 there are some beautiful mountain 

 kinds, and, to a great extent, the 

 family are found on mountains ; but 

 they are rarely suitable for the rock- 

 garden. One of the handsomest 

 plants in the alpine meadows of 

 Europe and other countries is the 

 alpine Starwort, but in cultivation 

 and richer ground it is not so at- 

 tractive as in the wild state. Never- 

 theless, in large rock-gardens some of 

 the dwarfer kinds may often be useful, 

 all the more so to those who enjoy 

 their gardens mostly in the autumn. 



Among the best of all, however, 

 are the European Starworts, A. amellus 

 and A. acris, of which last there are 

 dwarf forms, precious for their fine 

 colour and not too tall for the bolder 

 parts of the rock-garden, and for 

 growing among the shrubs near it, 

 as advised elsewhere in this book. 



Some of the Indian Starworts are 

 dwarfer and more refined in habit 



