148 ALPINE FLOWERS. Part II.. 



the fine, but very tall A. eximia {californicd), the gaily coloured 

 A. canadensis, A. Skinneri, and some of the more beautiful 

 varieties of the common Columbine, are all worthy of culture, 

 but for the most part too tall for the rock-garden. 



ARABIS MSIDIi..— White Rock Cress. 



Through long years of neglect of all sorts of dwarf hardy plants 

 this, the " white Arabis " of our gardens, has held its own, and 

 is now seen in almost every garden in these islands, and in the 

 barrow of every London flower-hawker in the spring. A native 

 of the mountains of Greece, Southern Russia, and of many 

 elevated parts in adjacent regions, it is as much at home in 

 Britain as is the daisy, and will 'grow in any soil or situation, 

 flourishing far into our cities as well as in the open country, 

 where its profuse sheets of snowy bloom may expand un- 

 blemished under the earliest suns of spring. By seed, or divi- 

 sion, or cuttings, it is as easily increased as a native weed, and 

 is a valuable ornament of the mixed border, the spring garden, 

 the rockwork, and for naturalisation in wild and bare rocky 

 spots. On the rockwork it is peculiarly fitted for falling over 

 the ledges of rocks ; it may also be used as an edging to clumps 

 of shrubs, though it is in better taste to associate it in such 

 positions with groups of plants like the Aubrietias, the rock 

 Alyssum, and other easily grown alpine .flowers that bloom 

 early in the year. A. albida is closely allied to the Alpine Rock 

 Cress {A. alpind), so .widely distributed on the Alps, and by some 

 would be considered a. sub-species of that plant, but it is suffi- 

 ciently distinct, and by far the best kind. There is a variegated 

 variety in cultivation, known by the name of Arabis albida 

 variegata, which is useful as an edging-plant both in spring 

 and summer flower-gardens. It is the dwarfest and whitest of 

 the variegated rock cresses that are grown under the names 

 of ^. albida variegata. The yellower and stronger variety, fre- 

 quently called A. albida variegata, and which is the best for 

 general purposes, is a form of Arabis crispata, of which the 

 ordinary green form is not worthy of cultivation. 



ARABIS BLEPHAROPHYLLA.— 7?0jy Rock Cress. 

 This is not unlike the white Arabis in its habit, size, and leaves, 

 but the flowers are of a deep rosy purple, and consequently 



