236 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



purplish-lilac colour, with a yellowish 

 white. Messrs Frcebel, of Zurich, 

 who grow it well, write to us : "We 

 have treated this plant in the same 

 manner as the Pyrenean Ramondia, i.e. 

 we have planted it on the north side 

 of the rock-garden ; therefore, the sun 

 never directly reaches it. We grow it 

 in fibrous peat, and fix the plants, if 

 possible, into fissures, so that the 

 rosettes which it forms hang in an 

 oblique position, just as they do in 

 their native country. It succeeds 

 well in this way; but if no rock be 

 .at hand it may be grown equally well 

 on the north side of a Rhododendron 

 bed. We have it thus situated quite 

 close to a stone edging, a way in which 

 we also grow the Mamondia, and the 

 Haberlea flowers profusely every year 

 in May and June. The plant is 

 very hardy, having withstood several 

 very hard winters, without any pro- 

 tection, quite unharmed." It is a 

 native of the Balkan Mountains, where 

 it is found growing among moss and 

 leaves on damp, shady, steep declivities 

 at high elevations. 



HABRANTHUS PRATENSIS. A 



brilliant bulbous plant of the Amaryllis 

 family, hardy, at least in the southern 

 and eastern parts of the country. It 

 has stout and erect flower-stems, about 

 1 foot in height, and flowers of brightest 

 scarlet, feathered here and there at the 

 base with yellow. The variety fulgens 

 is the finest form of the plant. It 

 grows freely in loam, improved in 

 texture by the addition of a little 

 leaf-mould and sand. Its propagation 

 is too easy, for in many soils it breaks 

 up into offsets, instead of growing to 

 a flowering size. A choice plant for 

 the rock-garden. Chili. 



HEDYSARUM OBSCURUM (Creep- 

 ing-rooted H.). A handsome, creeping, 



vetch-like plant, with large purplish- 

 violet flowers in long spikes, from 6 

 to 12 inches high, and sometimes more 

 in rich soil. Readily increased by 

 division or seeds, grows freely in 

 ordinary garden-soil on level ground, 

 and is a valuable rock-plant. A 

 native of the Alps of Dauphiny and 

 the Tyrol. 



HELIANTHEMUM (Sunrose). 

 Mostly dwarf and wiry shrubs, in- 

 habiting rocky, sandy, and heathy 

 places ; of much beauty of colour, 

 for the most part hardy, and easy to 

 grow, and, therefore, very useful for 

 the rock-garden, or for dry walls or 

 banks. If we had only the varieties 

 of our native Sunrose, they would be 

 a precious aid ; but there are also 

 other species of much beauty, and 

 well deserving the care of the rock 

 gardener. It is not a group in which 

 we have to pick and choose, as every 

 known kind is worth growing. 



Helianthemum canum (Tlie Hoary Sun- 

 rose). A native of limestone rocks in 

 Britain, but somewhat rare, is much 

 dwarfer than the common kind, and pro- 

 duces small pale yellow flowers. The whole 

 plant does not grow more than 3 inches 

 high, and forms a pretty rock-shrublet. 



H. guttatum (Annual Sunrose). The 

 pretty annual spotted Sunrose, found in 

 the Channel Islands, on the Holyhead 

 Mountain, in Anglesea, and widely on 

 the Continent, deserves a place in the 

 curious collection, and indeed has beauty 

 enough to recommend it. It is quite 

 easily grown, but is best raised in pots 

 in spring, and then planted out in May. 

 Once established, it sows itself annually. 



H. ocymoides (Basil-like Sunrose). A 

 native of dry rocky hills in Spain and 

 Portugal, with bright yellow purple-eyed 

 flowers nearly an inch and a half across, 

 and hoary leaves an inch to an inch and 

 a half long ; and very useful on the 

 warmer and drier parts, among the stronger 

 alpine shrubs. Increased by seed or cut- 

 tings. Syn., Cistus algarvensis. 



