228 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



in the shade of Evergreens, from 

 Canada to Virginia. London says it 

 is difficult to keep alive, except in a 

 peat soil kept moist; but I have 

 never seen it prettier or so full of 

 berries as on stiff loam. The plant 

 was thoroughly exposed, and the only 

 advantage it had corresponding to 

 those usually mentioned as necessary 

 was that the soil was moist. It 

 thrives also in moist peat. There are 

 few other plants of these important 

 for the rock-garden, except G. num- 

 mularicefolia, a dwarf creeping Ever- 

 green. The large Partridge Berry of 

 the Rocky Mountains (G. shallon) is 

 too strong a grower for any but the 

 roughest of stony banks in woods or 

 elsewhere. 



GENISTA (Rock Broom). These 

 shrubs are dwarf and very often tufted 

 in growth, bearing yellow flowers of some 

 beauty. They are easily grown and 

 raised, and, being good in habit, should 

 be worth a place in hot sandy soils 

 where the true alpine flowers are 

 despaired of. They would go well 

 with the Rock Roses, Heaths, and 

 Rosemary, which might be happy in 

 such soils. From the following selec- 

 tion, we omit those that are too large 

 for the rock-garden, or that have been 

 found to be tender in the neighbour- 

 hood of London. 



Genista anglica (Heather Wliin) is a 

 dwarf spiny shrub, not often growing to a 

 height of 2 feet. It is widely distributed 

 throughout Western Europe, and in 

 Britain occurs on moist moors from Ross 

 southwards. The short leafy racemes of 

 yellow flowers appear in May and June. 



G. anxantica, found wild in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Naples, is very nearly allied 

 to our native Dyer's Greenweed (G. tinc- 

 toria). It is very dwarf in habit, and its 

 many racemes of golden-yellow flowers 

 come in late summer. A beautiful rock- 

 garden plant. 



Genista aspalathoides, a native of 

 South-western Europe, makes a densely 

 branched, compact, spiny bush from 1 foot 

 to 2 feet in height. It flowers in July and 

 August (the yellow blossoms are somewhat 

 smaller than those of G. anglica), and is 

 a good shrub for the rock-garden. 



G. ephedroides, a native of Sardinia, 

 etc., is a much-branched shrub, 2 feet in 

 height, bearing yellow flowers from June 

 to August. 



G. germanica, a species widely distri- 

 buted throughout Europe, makes a bright 

 rock-garden shrub, not more than a couple 

 of feet in height. It flowers very freely 

 during the summer and autumn months, 

 and the stems are inclined to arch when 

 1 foot or more high. 



G. hispanica, a native of South-Western 

 Europe, is a compact undershrub, ever- 

 green from the colour of its shoots. It 

 scarcely attains more than 1 foot or 18 

 inches in height, and the crowded racemes 

 of yellow flowers are borne at the tips of 

 the spiny twigs from May onwards. 



G. pilosa, a widely distributed Euro- 

 pean species, is a dense, prostrate bush and 

 a rock-garden plant. In Britain it is rare 

 and local, being confined to gravelly 

 heaths in the south and south-west of 

 England. It grows freely, flowering in 

 May and June. Like the rest of the 

 British species of the genus, it has bright 

 yellow blossoms. 



G. prsecox is a garden name for Cytisus 

 prcecox, a beautiful hybrid between the 

 white Spanish Broom (Cytisus albus) and 

 C. purgans, a golden-flowered species. 



G. radiata, a native of Central and 

 Southern Europe, is 3 feet or 4 feet in 

 height, evergreen from the colour of its 

 much-branched spiny twigs. The heads 

 of bright yellow flowers appear through- 

 out the summer months. It is quite hardy 

 at any rate in the south of England. 



G. ramosissima. A native of Southern 

 Spain, and one of the best garden plants 

 in the genus, grows about 3 feet high, and 

 the slender twigs are laden in July with 

 bright yellow flowers. This also passes 

 under the name of G. cinerea. 



G. sagittalis (Winged Rock Broom). A. 

 singular plant, its branchlets winged (by 

 the stem expanding into two or three 



