>6 



ALPINE FLOWERS. 



Part I. 



Fig. 50. — After Mrs. Loudon. 



these should in all cases be covered with Ivy, or some kindly 

 veil of vegetation. It should be noted that when rocks or stones 

 are properly placed in the rock-garden, 

 they do not require any cementing, 

 but are surrounded by and placed on 

 moist stony earth or grit, inviting to 

 every fibre of the root that descends. 

 From this we may deduce the rule — 

 Rockwork consisting of stones ce^ 

 mented together is utterly bad in all 

 respects. A distinction should, how- 

 ever, be here drawn between this variety and that in which a 

 shell of artificial rock, so as to resemble natural strata, is made 

 to contain rich bodies of earth suitable for Clematises, Rho- 

 dodendrons, &c. 



A. variety is occasionally seen bordering drives, often with 

 large stones arranged in porcupine-quill fashion. This may be 

 described as the style dangerous for coachmen on dark nights, 

 or indeed at any time, when a swerve or tumble occurs. A 

 sketch taken near York, and showing a dentate ridge of rocks 

 springing up close from each side of a drive for a considerable 

 length near the entrance gate, has been mislaid, or I should 

 have had the pleasure of figuring this variety. Such a position 

 is the last that should be chosen for the rock-garden, especially as 

 we live in an age when it is not desirable to combine it with any 

 kind of fortification. 



Lastly, and without alluding to even half the genera, much less 

 the species, of the ridiculous rockwork tribe, I have the pleasure 

 of presenting a plan of some, recently constructed on the margin 



of a. stream in a popu- 

 lar London park. It 

 shows exactly what not 

 to do with any rocks in- 

 troduced near the mar- 

 gin of water. A poultry 

 breeder, desirous of 

 constructing a series 

 of nests for aquatic 

 birds, could scarcely 

 have originated anything in baser taste. By turning to p. 22, 

 something suggestive of Nature's work in this way will be seen. 



Fig. SI. — Ground plan of rockworks recently made 

 in a London park on margin of water. 



