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MY GARDEN. 



The Alpine Wallflower {Cheiranthus alpinus, fig. 720) must never 

 be omitted from an alpinery, as its fine heads of yellow flowers make, a 



Fig. 719.— Phlox Nelsonii. 



Fig. 720. — Cheiranthus alpinus- 



Fig. 718. — Phlox divaricata. 



grand display in spring. It is always advisable to have many of these 

 plants, which are easily obtained by cuttings, and this is a species which 

 may be advantageously introduced into the general flower-garden. 



The Lithospermum fruticosum is perhaps somewhat unduly extolled. 

 It derives its generic name from the flinty hardness of the stones of the 

 fruit. Its dark blue flowers are its chief attraction. On the chalk hills 

 near us a species of lithospermum grows wild, but we have not been 

 able to flower it in cultivation. 



Amongst the alpine plants, the glorious Gentianas are some of the 

 special desiderata ; but all the species are difficult, and some it is almost 

 impossible to cultivate. The Gentiana acaulis (fig. 721) is the garden 

 Gentianella. It does well in some 

 places, but not in others, preferring 

 a solid ground of sandy or gravelly 

 loam, and requiring abundance of 

 light and air. It has never suc- 

 ceeded so well with me as I have 

 seen it in other places ; never- 



Fig. 721.— Gentiana acaulis. thelcSS it is a loVCly plant. In- Fig. 722.— G. vema 



comparably superior to the last-mentioned species is the G. vema 

 (fig. 722). I have seen this in perfection at Zermatt. I have seen 

 it in large quantities on the St. Gothard Pass, and the few flowers 

 I obtain are but as the " dim shadow of glory " when compared with 



