318 



ALPINE FLOWERS FOR GARDENS 



[PART II. 



the shining green masses of leaves. Like 

 most high - mountain plants, it should 

 have perfect exposure to the full sun ; 

 it should never be elevated amongst burrs 

 or stones in such a position that a dry 

 wind may parch the life out of the tiny 

 roots, so unwisely cut off from the moist 

 arth. I once regretted to see a colony of 

 .ants take up their abode under a tuft of 

 this plant, and begin to raise the soil 

 .amongst its tiny leaves ; but as the ants 

 built their hill, the plant expanded its 

 leaves, and finally grew to be a little 

 mound of starry snow. Alps of Europe ; 

 readily increased by seed or by division. 



Silene Elisabethse (Elizabeth's Catchfly). 

 A remarkably distinct and rare alpine 

 plant, the flowers looking more like those 

 of some handsome but diminutive Clarkia 

 than those of a Catchfly. They are large, 

 of a bright rose colour, and with the base of 

 the petals white, from one to seven being 

 borne on stems 3 or 4 inches high. It is 

 rare in a wild state, occurring in the 

 Tyrol and Italy, where I had the pleasure 

 of gathering it on Monte Campione, grow- 

 ing amidst shattered fragments of rock, 

 and in one case in a flaky rock without 

 any soil. It grows freely enough in 

 .sandy soil in a warm nook, as I observed 

 in M. Boissier's garden, in Switzerland. 

 Flowers in summer, rather late, by seeds. 



S. maritima (Sea Catchfly). A British 

 plant, not uncommon on sand, shingle, or 

 rocks by the sea, or on wet rocks on 

 mountains, forming carpets of smooth 

 glaucous leaves, from which spring gener- 

 ally solitary flowers about an inch across, 

 .and white, with purple inflated calyces. 

 The handsome double variety of this 

 plant, S. maritima fl. pi, is well worthy 

 of culture, not only for its flowers but for 

 the dense, sea-green spreading carpet of 

 leaves which it forms, and which make it 

 particularly suitable for the margins of 

 raised borders, for hanging over the 

 faces of stones. The flowers appear in 

 June, and, in the case of the double 

 variety, rarely rise more than a couple 

 of inches above the leaves, which form a 

 turf about 2 inches deep. 



S. Pennsylvanica (Wild Pink). The 

 wild Pink of the Americans is a dwarf 

 and handsome plant, with nearly smooth 



root-leaves, forming dense patches, and 

 with clusters of six or eight purplish-rose 

 flowers, about an inch across, notched, 

 and borne on stems from 4 to 7 inches 

 high, somewhat sticky, and hairy. A 

 native of many parts of North America, 

 in sandy, rocky, or gravelly places 

 flowering from April to June, and very 

 freely in deep sandy soil. 



Silene pumilio (Pigmy Catchfly}. An 

 interesting kind from the Tyrol, resem- 

 bling the Cushion Pink of our own moun- 

 tains in its dwarf firm tufts of shining 

 green leaves, which are, however, a little 

 more succulent and obtuse, and bearing 

 much larger and handsomer rose-coloured 

 flowers, rising taller than those of Silene 

 acaulis, and yet scarcely more than an 

 inch above the flat mass of leaves, so that 

 the whole plant seldom attains a height 

 of more than between 2 and 3 inches. 

 It should be planted in deep sandy loam, 

 on a well-drained and exposed spot, 

 sufficiently moist in summer, facing the 

 south, a few stones being placed round 

 the neck of the young plant to keep it 

 firm and prevent evaporation. 



S. schafta (Late Catchfly}. A much 

 branched plant, not compressed into hard 

 cushions like the alpine, stemless, or 

 dwarf Silenes, forming very neat tufts, 

 from 4 to 6 inches high, and covered with 

 large purplish-rose flowers from July to 

 September, and even later. It comes 

 from the Caucasus, is quite hardy, and 

 a fine plant for almost any position. In 

 planting it, it may be as well to bear in 

 mind its late-flowering habit. Seed or 

 division of established tufts. 



S. virginica (Fire Pink). A brilliant 

 perennial, with flowers of the brightest 

 scarlet, nearly 2 inches across, somewhat 

 straggling in habit, hardy and perennial, 

 and the colour as fine as that of the 

 scarlet Lobelia. A native of America, 

 increased by seeds and division, growing 

 from 1 to 2 feet high, and therefore most 

 suited for association with the Aquilegias 

 and taller alpine plants. 



Having in cultivation such brilliant 

 and distinct plants as the preceding 

 Catchflies, we must consider Silene Zawad- 

 skii, dwarf and with white flowers, the 

 diminutive soft-tufted S. quadridentata 



