66 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part I. 



the spade, is likely to come in their way. Failing a supply of 

 pots sufficient for all, some of the stronger growing ones may be 

 planted in a sheltered bed of light soil, care being taken to 

 shade them for a few days after being plasnted ; or a few old 

 boxes, five or six inches deep, may be used with even greater 

 advantage for the same purpose, as they may readily be moved 

 from the shady side of a wall to a more sunny locality after they 

 have. recovered sufficiently the process of transplanting ; and, 

 finally, they may receive the shelter of a cold frame as soon as 

 winter sets in. This recommendation must not be considered 

 as indicative of thei'r inability to stand the cold weather, but as 

 a preventive of the mechanical action of frost, which, in some 

 soils especially, is apt to loosen their root-hold, and force the 

 young plants, roots and all, to the surface. 



" In the case of the smaller-growing alpines, such as the Drabas, 

 Arabises, &c. I generally find that they stand the first winter best 

 in pots of the smallest size, and in this form they may be the 

 more readily inserted in the interstices of a rockery, where they 

 will permanently establish themselves." 



Than the question of watering there is nothing of more im- 

 portance in connection with our subject. The popular and 

 erroneous notion that alpine plants want shade arises from the 

 fact that those placed in the shade do not perish so soon from 

 drought as those in the sun. The reason that alpine plants perish 

 so soon on bare fiower-borders, the surface of which may be 

 saturated with rain one day and as dry as snuff the next, at least 

 to the depth to which the roots of a small or young alpine plant 

 would penetrate, is therefore very easily accounted for. Matted 

 through a soft carpet of short grass in their native hills, or rooted 

 deeply between stones and chinks, they can stand many degrees 

 more heat than they ever encounter in this country. As a rule, 

 it is impossible to water them too freely if the drainage be good, 

 which of course it will be in the well-formed rock-garden. To 

 have the water laid on and apphed thoroughly and regularly 

 with a fine hose is the best plan for districts not naturally very 

 moist, and where there is a large rock-garden ; many small ar- 

 rangements may be suppUed in the ordinary way from pots or 

 barrels, and in some parts of the country the natural moisture 

 will suffice. Some lay small copper pipes through the masses 

 and to the highest points of the rock, allowing the water to gently 

 trickle from these, but, except in special cases, the plan is not so 



