PART II.] 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



247 



of the northern world. The smaller 

 kinds are of the highest value, and 

 the large one essential for the bold 

 rock-garden, being not only a first- 

 rate evergreen, but the flowers are 

 of great beauty, coming too at a very 

 good time, between the great crowd 

 of spring flowers and the coming of 

 the Roses. If one had only these 

 and* half a dozen other groups of 

 shrubs of the northern moors and 

 mountains, a very enduring and grace- 

 ful rock-garden might be made from 

 them alone. And that almost with- 

 out trouble in the many parts of our 

 islands where rocks crop out, as in 

 Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. Nor do 

 we want rocks, as they grow like weeds 

 on the peaty moors of England. 



Kalmia angustifplia (Sheep's Laurel), 

 grows about 1^ feet high, and bears in early 

 June dense clusters of rosy pink flowers. 

 It is a graceful, hardy, and easily grown 

 shrub, excellent for the rock or drier 

 parts of bog-garden. Newfoundland, 

 Hudson Bay, and southward. 



K. glauca (Swamp Laurel). A dwarf 

 evergreen shrub with smooth leaves 

 silvery on the lower surface, with purplish 

 flowers. Excellent for the rock-garden 

 among the mountain bushes, and quite 

 free in peat or moor soil. Newfoundland, 

 Hudson Bay, and Alaska. 



K. hirsuta (Hairy Laurel). A dwarf 

 evergreen shrub, distinguished from the 

 other kinds by its hairy leaves, and not 

 quite so hardy, being a native of Virginia, 

 and Florida in Pine Barrens. 



K. latifolia (Mountain Laurel). This is 

 the finest as it is the commonest in gardens, 

 and should be planted wherever the soil 

 is suitable. Like the Ehododendron and 

 Azalea, the Kalmia is best grown in 

 a moist peaty soil, or one light or sandy. 

 It will not thrive in stiff or chalky soils. 

 Its lovely clusters of pink wax-like"flowers 

 open about the end of June, when the 

 bloom of the Rhododendron and Azalea 

 is on the wane, and last for a fortnight 

 or longer. There are varieties of K. lati- 

 folia, having in some cases larger flowers, 



and in others, flowers of a deeper colour, 

 the finest being Maxima, which is superior 

 in size of flower. 



The Myrtle-leaved Kalmia (K. myrti- 

 folia) seems to be only a variety of K. 

 latifolia, with smaller foliage. The growth 

 is dwarf and compact, and the flowers 

 are almost as large as those of K. latifolia. 

 Canada and southwards, in sand and 

 rocky woods. 



KERNERA SAXATILIS. A neat 

 little plant, very like the dwarf Scurvy 

 Grass (Cochlearid). It forms a com- 

 pact tuft of foliage, and in early 

 summer is a dense mass of tiny white 

 blooms. It grows in any soil in an 

 open position in the rock-garden, where 

 it is an attractive plant in spring, and 

 may be freely propagated by seeds. 

 Europe. 



ea). For 



the greater part, these perennial 

 trailers are too large for our purpose, 

 if we take the narrow view of the rock- 

 work with small plants only; but in 

 a bolder kind of rock-garden, with its 

 mountain shrubs, the rarer and more 

 beautiful kinds may come in very 

 well. Moreover, the freedom of the 

 shrubby rock-garden allows us to 

 dispense with staking, which is a great 

 gain, as I think these plants never 

 look so well as in their own way of 

 growth. The effect is much better when 

 they fall over rocks or banks. Even 

 the stoutest kind, with its white and 

 prettily coloured forms, is handsomer 

 falling down banks than in any other 

 way. But when we have to deal with 

 Everlasting Peas of such rarity and 

 beauty as the Greek L. sibthorpii and 

 the Californian L. splendens, we have 

 plants by no means so free, and which 

 may well grace the rock-garden. Some 

 good plants once known by other 

 names are now included in Lathyrus. 

 Syn., Orobus. 



