ALPINES FOR WALLS, STEPS, EDGINGS. 109 



site when it is once established I have known repeated 

 sowings fail in poor rough soil. The seed is very small, 

 and the seedlings are so frail that they fail to fight 

 their way to full flowering vigour. When good 

 seedlings are set out with a moist ball of soil and 

 roots, and watered till they are established, they have 

 a much better chance. It is worth a little extra 

 trouble, for it is a most beautiful plant, well fitted to 

 vie \\dth the choicest Alpines. It has many colours, 

 all beautiful. No small part of the value of this little 

 kno^vn but exquisite annual is that it is at its best 

 in August and September, when most perennial Alpines 

 are out of bloom. 



It has been pointed out in a previous chapter that 

 a charming pathway may be made by using fiat 

 stones which are not placed in exact juxtaposition, 

 but are set unevenly and planted with Alpines. Some 

 may hke this idea, but already have paths of gravel, 

 which they hesitate to break up, especially if the 

 place is not their own. This is only one of many 

 directions in which the flower-lover may find his 

 impulses checked by mundane considerations. Perhaps 

 a compromise can be effected by keeping the main 

 paths in gravel, and forming by-paths with stones. 

 Another plan is to skirt the stiff path with a border of 

 stones, and thereby rob it of its formality. It is not 

 necessary to raise a mound and make an orthodox 

 " rockery.'* The edging may be flat, and it will suffice 

 if it is from two to three feet wide. With pretty 

 plants set between irregularly-placed stones, the walk 

 will have an interest which it never knew before. 



