124 



that it is scarcely worth while to attempt them. 

 The anemone is poetically named from anemos, 

 the wind, on account of the exposed places 

 where it blows. 



Without doubt Iris reticulata is the most 

 beautiful of its tribe for the Alpine garden. Its 

 early flowering habit, the beauty of its blossom, 

 and pronounced violet odor, all render it excep- 

 tionally valuable. It blossoms well with me 

 the first year, only to serve me like some of the 

 daffodils and auratum lilies the second ; a dif- 

 ferent soil, possibly, might tell a different story. 

 No fault can be found with the common little 

 /. pumila, likewise very early, and a species 

 which increases rapidly. /. crtstata, a very 

 dwarf native species, produces large, handsome 

 lavender flowers, blossoming almost on the 

 ground from its creeping rhizomes. 



All the Iberis are charming evergreen rock- 

 plants, the coolest-looking of the spreading spring 

 flowers. There can be scarcely anything more 

 beautiful to cushion or overhang a ledge of rock 

 than any of the forms of this hardy mountaineer. 

 The varieties cortfolia and correcufolia should 

 not be confounded, for both are needed ; the 

 latter blossoming when the former has nearly 

 passed. There is a blush-tinge to the large- 

 flowered Gibraltartca, otherwise similar to the 



