Part I. ALPINE FLOWERS IN BORDERS. 49 



off the formal line which usually divides margin and border. 

 Behind them we might use very dwarf shrubs, deciduous or 

 evergreen, in endless variety ; and of course the margin should 

 be varied also. 



In one spot we might have a wide-spreading tuft of the pros- 

 trate Savin pushing its graceful evergreen branchlets out over 

 the grass ; in another the dwarf little Cotoneasters might be 

 allowed to form the front rank, relieved in their turn by 

 pegged-down roses ; and so on without end. Herbaceous plants, 

 that die down in winter and leave the ground bare afterwards, 

 should not be assigned any important position near the front. 

 Evergreen alpine plants and shrubs, as before remarked, are per- 

 fectly suitable here ; but the true herbaceous type, and the larger 

 bulbs, like Lilies, should be " stolen in " between spreading 

 shrubs rather than allowed to monopolise the ground. By 

 so placing them, we should not only secure a far more satis- 

 factory general effect, but highly improve the aspect of the 

 herbaceous plants themselves. The head of a white Lily, seen 

 peeping up between shrubs of fresh and glistening green, is in- 

 finitely more attractive than when forming one of z^ large batch 

 of its own or allied kinds, or associated with a mass of herba- 

 ceous plants. Of course, to carry out such planting properly, 

 a little more time at first and a great deal more taste than 

 are now employed would be required ; but what a difference 

 in the result ! In the kind of borders I advocate, nearly all 

 the trouble would be over with the first planting, and labour 

 and skill could be successively devoted to other parts of the 

 place. All the covered borders would require would be an 

 occasional weeding or thinning, &c., and perhaps, in the case of 

 the more select spots, a little top-dressing with fine soil. Here 

 and there, between and amongst the plants, such things as 

 Forget-me-nots and Violets, Snowdrops and Primroses, might be 

 scattered about, so as to lend the borders a floral interest, even 

 at the dullest seasons ; and thus we should be delivered from 

 digging and dreariness, and see our ugly borders alive with 

 exquisite plants. A list of species suitable for this purpose will 

 be found among the selections. 



And now, having spoken of growing alpine flowers in various 

 ways, I will say a few words in favour of such of them as 

 happen to be among the plants usually termed "florists' flowers.'' 

 What is a " florists' " flower ? Well, simply one that has been 



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