CHAPTER XIV 



ALPINES FOR SHADY AND SUNNY 

 POSITIONS 



HAP'PILY for those who garden entirely in the 

 open air, the choice of subjects is practically un- 

 limited. Indeed, at no time in the history of hardy 

 plants has there been such a choice as now, while to 

 variety and general high excellence must be added that 

 greatest of all attribut€S, amenability to the British 

 climate. Without this, to growers and lovers of choice 

 alpines, the great influx of novelties during recent 

 years would be but the veriest farce, and the cultivation 

 of them would soon go out of fashion. Fortunately 

 for the lover of this particular phase of gardening, no 

 such disaster has been experienced, and it is not im- 

 pending. On the contrary, with the growing taste for 

 these plants there has arisen a more intimate, intelli- 

 gent knowledge of their requirements, and the rudi- 

 ments once mastered but encourage the enthusiast to 

 greater heights. And there is room and scope for all, 

 just as there is out of the array of species and varieties 

 now known to cultivators plants suited to every aspect, 

 whether of sun or shade (Fig. '31). There are varieties, 

 too, suited to all gardens, large or small, so that the 

 millionaire or the artisan may indulge to the full and 

 obtain an equal modicum of pleasure as a result. In 

 dealing with alpine plants preferring sun or shade, we 

 must not be taken as saying that those so marked must 

 of necessity be subjected to an inflexible rule. For 

 example, the shade-loving Ramondias, or such mois- 

 ture-loving Primula^ as rosea and sikkimensis, will be 

 found perfectly happy in full sun if abundant moisture 



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