PART II.] 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



189 



evergreen plant, bearing small white 

 flowers, followed by white globular 

 berries. It is like a small cranberry, 

 a native of cold boggy places and wet 

 woods in Newfoundland and Canada 

 to British Columbia and southward 

 on the mountains. It is a plant for 

 the bog bed or a moist corner, with 

 such plants as the Linnwa. 



CISTUS (Rock Rose}. Small shrubs 

 and bushes of distinct beauty ; mostly 

 from the sun -burnt hills of Southern 

 Europe, and for that reason none the 

 less welcome to rock-gardeners. Many 

 people complain that the great heat 

 of recent years has affected the cul- 

 ture of alpine plants, especially on dry 

 soils in the south. These Rock Roses 

 enjoy the hot sands, and rocks, and 

 arid places, which are death to the 

 true alpine of the icy fields of the 

 north and of the alpine slopes. The 

 only drawback to their successful cul- 

 ture is our climate, in which certain 

 kinds are tender, and may perish in 

 hard winters ; but several are hardy, 

 especially in such positions as we may 

 give them in the rock-garden and on 

 the tops of dry walls or on poor banks. 

 In such soils as the poor sands of 

 Surrey, they are at home. Among 

 other rock plants we have to pick 

 and choose, rejecting many from the 

 rock-garden point of view ; but here 

 all are pretty ; the larger kinds 

 taking their place among shrubs, and 

 the smaller on the rocks. Some are 

 evergreen shrubs, and have a spicy 

 fragrance of the warm south, grateful 

 to the northerner. I feel sure that 

 in certain districts one might have 

 a pretty rock-garden of the Rock 

 Roses and Sun Roses, and a few 

 other sun-loving shrubs, like Rose- 

 mary and the Heaths that love the 

 sun. jui2$K^ 



Many of the species vary in colour, 



and not a few appear to hybridise 

 freely. In spite of the fugacious 

 character of the flowers (they do not 

 last more than one day), their bright 

 colours, and the profusion in which 

 a succession is kept up for a consider- 

 able time, place them amongst the 

 most welcome of garden shrubs during 

 the summer months. 



Cistus albidus ( White Rock Rose). The 

 name of this is derived not from the colour 

 of the flowers, for these are a fine rose, but 

 to the whitish tomentum which clothes the 

 leaves and young shoots. It forms a com- 

 pact bush 2 to 4 feet high ; the old branches 

 are covered with a brownish bark. The 

 rose-coloured flowers are nearly 2 inches 

 across, and the style is longer than the tuft 

 of yellow stamens. Southern Europe. 



C. Bourgseanus is a native of the Pine 

 woods of Southern Spain and Portugal, 

 where it flowers in the month of April, 

 grows a foot in height, and has somewhat 

 prostrate branches, covered with Kose- 

 mary-like dark-green leaves. The white 

 flowers are about an inch across, and it 

 is a charming plant for a sunny spot in 

 the rock-garden. 



C. Clusii (Clusiutfs Rock Rose). In habit 

 this is more erect than the last-named, 

 but the flowers are the same colour and 

 size, as are also the leaves. As a rock 

 plant, or grown for cool house decoration, 

 it is charming. It is met with under the 

 name of C. rosmarinifolius. 



C. crispus. This forms a compact bush, 

 1 to 2 feet high, with tortuous branches, 

 the rose-coloured flowers nearly li inches 

 across. There are some hybrids between 

 this species and G. albidus which are 

 nearer the seed-bearing parent than they 

 are to 0. albidus. 



C. florentinus (Florence Rock Rose). A 

 pretty bush, flowering freely and of easy 

 culture. I find it hardy and enduring on 

 soils where other kinds perish. It is 

 evergreen and charming on the tops of 

 high walls and banks ; and for the rock- 

 garden one could not desire a prettier or 

 more easily grown plant. It is about 1 

 foot to 18 inches high, bearing myriads of 

 white flowers. 



