i6o ALPINE FLOWERS AND ROCK GARDENS. 



purpose of the rock gardener. He requires neat, dwarf, 

 free-blooming varieties, and the production of monstrous 

 flowers is a neghgible consideration. There are several 

 sorts admirably adapted to fulfil the requirement 

 indicated. 



In choosing Narcissi for the rock garden we do not 

 turn to the huge robust kinds which make showy beds 

 in the public parks and large gardens generally ; because 

 they are too expensive for the positions. Nor do we 

 select the most recent productions of the hybridists, 

 because they are too costly. We choose the smaller, 

 neater sorts that do not take up a great amount of room 

 and are abundant enough to be planted in fair quantity. 



No plants are easier to grow than these little Narcissi. 

 Absolutely hardy, they will thrive in ordinary soil, and 

 bloom in a few weeks from autumn planting. They 

 multiply steadily by means of offsets. 



The objection that the soil in which they are planted 

 is bare for a considerable time is one that calls for 

 consideration, but it need trouble no one who has had 

 opportunities of seeing how capable the plants are of 

 pushing their way through any green covering. The 

 upHfting force behind their apparently weak spears, 

 drives them through dense turf, and this suggests that 

 they may be planted in combination with dwarf 

 carpeting plants that are green or silvery throughout 

 the autumn and winter. Arenaria caespitosa, the 

 Thymes J Herniaria glabra and the mossy Saxifrages are 

 such plants. 



With respect to the matter of leaf decay, it is also a 

 real consideration, but, as has been remarked in the 



