36 THE GARDENER'S COMPANION 



charming, flowering profusely in June ; the old- 

 fashioned double sorts are also very pretty and 

 effective in a garden, and flower several weeks 

 earlier ; the double white and dark-purple are 

 specially good ; they all prefer some shade and 

 moisture, growing best in leaf-mould, because these 

 plants are natives of woods. 



Arabis. The old single white Arabis, or " Snow- 

 on-the-mountain," is one of the first flowers to 

 welcome the spring, and a few patches of this 

 make pleasant company for the Crocus, in March. 

 Nearly a month later the double variety Arabis 

 alpina fl. pi. comes into bloom, and here we have 

 one of the most pleasing and useful of modern im- 

 provements, for it is a plant of great beauty and 

 immense vigour. The flowers are on quite long 

 stalks, and somewhat resemble a spike of small 

 flowered white Stock; it is excellent for cutting, 

 and lasts long in water, it continues in bloom for 

 many weeks ; the plant spreads with extraordinary 

 rapidity, and a small plant will, in one season, be- 

 come a patch several feet wide. A bed of this, 

 with red Primroses next to it, is a beautiful sight ; 

 or you may plant Daffodils to grow up through the 

 Arabis. The double variety does not seed, but it 



