Hardy Exotic Flowering Plants 157 



plants, little seen in our gardens, though hundreds of them 

 are hardy, and many of them among the prettiest of the Pea 

 flowers that adorn the mountains. They are best for rocky 

 or gravelly soils, or bare banks, though some of the taller 

 species, like A. galegiformis, are stout enough to take care 

 of themselves among the larger perennials. This plant is 

 valuable for its handsome port and foliage, though its flowers 

 are not such as recommend it for the flower-garden. The 

 species from the Mediterranean region might be successfully 

 introduced on banks in our chalk districts and in rocky 

 places. A. ponticus, a tall kind, and A. monspessulanus, 

 a dwarf one, are both worth growing. 



Masterwort, Astraniia. — This is an elegant genus, of 

 which few species are known, five being European —found in 

 Italy, Carinthia, Greece, and the centre of Europe— others 

 from Northern Asia. They are among the few umbellates 

 with attractive and distinct flowers, and yet they are rarely 

 seen in gardens. In the wild garden they are quite at home 

 among the Grass and medium-sized herbaceous plants, and 

 partial shade prolongs their quaint beauty. 



Blue Rock Cress, Aubrietia. — Dwarf rock plants, with 

 purplish flowers, quite distinct in aspect and hue from 

 anything else grown in our gardens, and rarely perishing 

 from any cause, except from being overrun by coarser 

 plants. They are admirable for association with the 

 Alyssums and Arabises in any position where the vegetation 

 is very dwarf, or in rocky bare places. There are several 

 species and varieties, all almost equally suitable, but not 

 differing much in aspect or stature from each other. The 

 Aubrietias come chiefly from the mountains of Greece, Asia 

 Minor, and neighbouring countries. Wherever there is an 

 old wall, or a sunk fence, or a bare bank, evergreen curtains 



