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ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



and early spring. S. purpurea and S. 

 ftava may be planted out in May or 

 June on sods of peat or fibrous loam, 

 either in a bog-bed or on the sunny 

 margins of either pond or stream, and 

 if these succeed, other kinds may with 

 more confidence be tried. At Glas- 

 nevin, S. purpurea has lived outside, 

 in a spongy bog near the ornamental 

 water there, for many years, and also 

 at Newry and elsewhere. All through 

 the summer full sunshine is an ad- 

 vantage, and there should be plenty of 

 moisture around the mossy sod on 

 which it is planted. On the approach 

 of winter a wire cylinder may be placed 

 round the plants, and on the advent 

 of frost a top covering of dry leaves or 

 bracken fern may be placed lightly 

 around the leaves, so as to protect 

 them, to check evaporation, and to 

 prevent harm from bright early 

 morning sunshine after dry and frosty 

 nights. With some simple attention 

 and shelter of this kind from November 

 to March, these plants may be grown 

 in the open air with success, and prove 

 of much interest. 



SAXIFRAGA (RockfoiT). Dwarf 

 tufted perennial herbs of the Alps and 

 higher mountains, frequent in northern 

 and cold countries. Many of them 

 are quite hardy and give with simple 

 culture, beautiful effects, even in the 

 neighbourhood of smoky towns. They 

 fall into different sections or groups, 

 offering a striking diversity of colour, 

 even when out of flower, in their 

 delicate foliage often freshest in 

 autumn and winter. 



In the Arctic Circle, in the highest 

 Alpine regions, on the arid mountains 

 of Southern and Eastern Europe, 

 and Northern Africa, and throughout 

 Northern Asia, they are found in many 

 interesting forms. For the purposes 



of cultivation some rough division is 

 convenient, as Saxifrages are very 

 different in aspect and uses. There is 

 the Mossy or Hypnoides section, of 

 which there are many kinds, and their 

 Moss-like tufts of foliage, so freshly 

 green, especially in autumn and winter, 

 when most plants decay, and their 

 countless white flowers in spring make 

 them precious. They are admirable 

 for the fresh green hue with which 

 they clothe rocks and banks in winter. 

 They are indeed the most valuable 

 winter "greens," in the Alpine flora. 

 ^ Next to these we may place the 

 silvery group. These have their 

 greyish leathery leaves margined with 

 dots of white, so as to give to the 

 whole a silvery character. This group 

 is represented by such kinds as IS. 

 Aizoon and the great pyramidal-flower- 

 ing S. Cotyledon of the Alps. Con- 

 sidering the freedom with which they 

 grow in all cool climates, even on level 

 ground, and their beauty of flower and 

 foliage, they are perhaps the most 

 precious group of Alpine flowers we 

 possess, and all can grow them. The 

 London Pride section is another. The 

 plants of this section thrive with 

 ordinary care, in lowland gardens, and 

 soon naturalise themselves in low- 

 land copses. But the most brilliant, 

 so far as flower is concerned, are 

 found in the purple Saxifrage (S. 

 oppositifolia) group and its near allies. 

 Here we have tufts of splendid colour 

 in spring with perfect hardiness. The 

 large leathery-leaved group, of which 

 the Siberian S. Crassifolia is best 

 known, is important ; they thrive in 

 ordinary soil and on the level ground. 

 Such of the smaller and rarer alpine 

 species as require any particular 

 attention should be planted in moist, 

 sandy loam, mingled with grit and 

 broken stone, the soil made firm. 



