APRIL 271 



much-praised book. The whole family of Calendulas 

 close on dull damp days. Maund says of these plants : 

 ' The Latin pluvialis, which pertains to rain, is used in 

 reference to the influence which rain or dew has on the 

 opening and closing of the blossoms of our present subject. 

 All flowers, we believe, which close in rainy or cloudy 

 weather have the property of closing at night. The same 

 object, protection from moisture, is attained in each 

 instance. This peculiarity is prettily alluded to in the 

 following lines, which I copy from Dr. Withering's 

 arrangement : 



The flower enamoured of the sun, 

 At his departure hangs her head and weeps, 

 And shrouds her sweetness up, and keeps 



Sad vigils, like a cloistered nun, 

 Till his reviving ray appears, 

 Waking her beauty as he dries her tears.' 



The seed of this Calendula pluvialis may be sown in 

 the open ground in April. 



I have never seen Messrs. Backhouse's gardens at 

 York ; but so far as I can judge, from seeing various rock 

 gardens they have made and planted, no one is half so 

 good as they are for all Alpines. They have so improved 

 the actual plants that they are scarcely to be recognised 

 as the same which grow in their mountain homes. Many 

 will say : ' What a pity ! ' But that applies to all rock- 

 gardening. If one tries to grow Alpines, one wants them 

 to be strong and to live. Saxifraga oppositifolia is, for 

 instance, really like what Mr. Backhouse describes in his 

 catalogues and David Wooster illustrated in his book on 

 Alpine plants. Saxifraga sancta blooms in profusion as 

 early as this, and is a bright pale yellow. All these plants 

 require either to be divided or else to have some handfuls 

 of light earth thrown over them after flowering. Saxi- 

 fraga burseriana is also very early, and has a pretty flower. 



