100 ALPINE FLOWERS AND ROCK GARDENS. 



shall be planted in rock gardens. The case is not quite 

 on all-fours with that of planting bulbs in beds and 

 borders, for there they can be lifted after flowering 

 and planted in a reserve garden, while this is not 

 always easy in a rockery. Perhaps as good a plan 

 as any is to twist the foliage into a neat loop, stir the 

 soil a little or add a handful of fresh, and sprinkle in 

 a few seeds of Portulacas or Violet Cress (lonopsidiun 

 acaule)y both of which are annuals. The Portulaca 

 is a brilliant and beautiful plant. It grows about 

 six inches high, and bears a profusion of glowing, 

 sparkHng flowers late in summer. Both single and 

 double strains are sold by the seedsmen. The Violet 

 Cress only grows an inch or two high, and though 

 less showy than the Portulaca, is pretty and interesting. 



Enemies. 



Slugs and snails are the worst enemies of Alpines, 

 and the more the rockery is overgrown by coarse 

 things the more difficult it is to keep these pests down. 

 Protected by the long matted shoots, which also 

 provide the shade and moisture that they love, slugs 

 increase rapidly, and work much havoc with the 

 weaker things. A cascade of Auhrietia is exquisitely 

 beautiful when in full bloom, but the grower's pleasure 

 in it is a little damped if he puts the streamers aside 

 and finds a whole colony of fat, sHmy slugs in a crevice 

 where he had put a cherished plant, all trace of which 

 has disappeared. It is wise to look over the rockery 

 at frequent intervals, and never omit to push the big 

 masses aside in order that the search shall be thorough. 



