28 ALPINE FLOWERS AND ROCK GARDENS. 



rock gardening in earnest rarely has to complain of 

 failure. A school of Alpinists has grown up. The 

 traces of it may be found in several directions, notably 

 in the new style of exhibiting adopted at some of the 

 great flower shows. Thirty years ago the whole of an 

 exhibition was held under cover, to-day a considerable 

 part of it is arranged out of doors. Then the main 

 exhibits were huge " specimen " plants — Azaleas 

 twelve feet high and perfectly pyramidal in shape, 

 gigantic Pelargoniums trained in a circle — now the 

 most interesting display is the series of rock and bog 

 gardens, with plants growing among real stones and 

 in real water. 



When complete gardens, demanding many tons of 

 rock and soil, and several hundreds of plants, not to 

 speak of a considerable quantity of water, are set up 

 in an exhibition enclosure, it is certain that far more 

 expenditure is involved than in the transport of a 

 dozen specimen plants, and it would only be justified by 

 a lively public interest, which did not stop at admira- 

 tion, but took some tangible shape in orders for stones 

 and plants. 



The considerate expert will readily condone slight 

 lapses and overlook casual flaws in these efforts to 

 arrest the attention of the flower-loving public, in view 

 of the entirely artificial conditions and short period 

 of time in which the work has to be done. As a matter 

 of fact, conducted as it is by men who pass their lives 

 in the formation of rock gardens, there is rarely 

 serious ground for criticism, and frequently much 

 material for instruction to the amateur. 



