62 ALPINES AND BOG-PLANTS 



of carrying its fine purple spikes long after all the other 

 Aubrietias are over. As for Fire King, Dr. Mules, 

 Pritchard's Al, Purple Robe, and the many other named 

 forms, they are glorious in colour, but not invariably nor 

 everywhere, quite so robust in character as the types, I 

 think ; or, perhaps, it is that some of them have a rather 

 lax, straggling habit. Speaking generally, the Aubrie- 

 tias will bear anything in the way of culture except 

 shade and excessive moisture. 



The Arabises, I must frankly confess, I almost detest. 

 To me they seem rank, coarse, evil-smelling, obstreperous 

 creatures. I am now describing Arahis alhida and its 

 varieties, but no Arabia, think I, has any great beauty. 

 No form of albida, not even the double one, is really 

 admissible to any small rock-garden ; and, even in a large 

 one, there are so many better things to fill rough corners 

 with, that there is no need to waste space on an 

 Arabis. The Alpine tufted species are less tiresome, 

 only because less rampageous. Sturii is an uninvited 

 guest here, and is still welcome. He came in something 

 else, and now has made himself quite at home, a neat- 

 habited rosetty thing, with heads of white blossom. 

 Arabis litcida variegata is useful too, with shiny rosettes 

 very neatly variegated with yellow. And I also grow a 

 pretty creature whose name is usually made a battlefield, 

 some people calling it Billiardierii rosea (the name I 

 bought it under) and others aubrietioeides. This last 

 name exactly describes it ; it has erect spikes of big pale 

 pink flowers like an Aubrietia, and also the same woolly 

 leaves. It very much dislikes damp, and, on the whole, 

 is mifFy. As this is the case, why be bothered about 

 growing what is, to all intents and purposes, a not con- 

 spicuously beautiful Aubrietia, with a far worse constitu- 

 tion than any Aubrietia ever raised ? 



Alyssum gives us the precious, little, honey-scented. 



