PART II.] 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



251 



LEUCOTHOE. Beautiful evergreen 

 shrubs of the Heath family, most of 

 them very old garden plants, and 

 common in collections of American 

 plants. There is a striking family 

 likeness between the common kinds, 

 the best-known being L. acuminata, 

 which grows from Ij to 2^ feet high, 

 and has slender arching stems clothed 

 with long pointed leaves. In early 

 summer the stems are profusely 

 wreathed with tiny white bell-shaped 

 flowers, extremely pretty. L. axillaris 

 is similar, and so are L. Catesbcei and 

 L. racemosa, all of which are known 

 in gardens under the generic name 

 Andromeda. They are natives of 

 North America, hardy, and thrive in 

 any light soil, preferring peat or leaf- 

 mould. A newer and very beautiful 

 species is L. Davisitv, introduced a 

 few years since from California, and 

 therefore neither so common nor so 

 hardy as the others. It makes a 

 neat little evergreen bush 2 or 3 

 feet high, and has small leaves on 

 slender stems, which in May are 

 terminated by dense clusters of small 

 white flowers in short erect spikes. 

 It is one of the choicest of evergreen 

 hardy shrubs, is thoroughly deserving 

 of general cultivation, and thrives 

 with Rhododendrons and Azaleas in 

 peat soil. 



LEWISIA REDIVI VA (Bitter Root). 

 A singular and pretty plant, allied 

 to the Ice plants, and forming rosettes 

 of leaves, 2 to 3 inches long, on a 

 thick, woody stalk. After the leaves 

 attain their full growth in spring or 

 early summer, beautiful flowers issue 

 from the rosettes, nearly hiding the 

 plant, each blossom 3 to 4 inches 

 across, and consists of eight or twelve 

 shaded pink petals, the centre being 

 nearly white and the tips rose-colour, 



the whole having a satiny lustre. The 

 flowers open only during sunshine. 

 Native of the west parts of North 

 America, particularly in Washington 

 Territory and Oregon. Should have 

 a warm position in the rock-garden, 

 in dryish soil, or between stones on 

 an earth-mortared wall. 



LIBERTIA Beautiful plants of 

 the Iris Order, of which some are 

 hardy in peaty and leafy soils. L. 

 formosa is beautiful at all seasons, 

 even in the depth of winter, owing to 

 the colour of its foliage, which is as- 

 green as the Holly ; and it bears 

 spikes of flowers of snowy whiteness 

 like some delicate Orchid. It is dwarf 

 and compact, and has flowers twice 

 as large as the other kinds. They 

 lie close together on the stem, and 

 remind one of the old double white 

 Rocket. L. ixioides, a New Zealand 

 plant, is also a handsome evergreen 

 species, with narrow grassy foliage and 

 small white blossoms. L. magellanica 

 is also pretty when in flower. All 

 of these thrive in borders of peaty 

 soil, and in the rougher parts of the 

 rock-garden, but they grow slowly on 

 certain loamy soils, living perhaps, 

 but never showing freedom and grace. 

 Increased by seed or by careful divi- 

 sion in spring. 



LILIUM (Lily). Most of these 

 handsome plants are too large for 

 the rock-garden ; a few, however, of 

 the smaller ones may well come into 

 it. And the idea so much urged in 

 this book, that we ought in every 

 case almost to associate the mountain 

 shrubs with the alpine flowers, when 

 carried out, gives us a chance of grow- 

 ing Lilies and other choice bulbs 

 among the shrubs. The shelter and 

 partial shade of the shrub helps the 

 bulbs in various ways, and gives us a 



