108 ALPINES AND BOG-PLANTS 



wettest winters it will take no harm ; and then about 

 mid-March its leaf-buds are sure to come poking faith- 

 fully up, and soon the flowers are budding. So lovely is 

 this Oxalis, that it could never in any circumstances 

 become a weed. However, it does not try to do so, but 

 only increases slowly and modestly, forming larger and 

 larger tufts, but never pervading the place like its less 

 well-bred kindred, who seem to have no instinct as to 

 where they are unwelcome. I believe the only thing that 

 Oxalis enneaphylla dislikes is excessive sunshine ; put it 

 under the shadow of a rock, and it will be pleased with 

 any well-drained soil. The other Wood- sorrels can only 

 be admitted with caution. The pink form of the ordin- 

 ary Oxalis Acetosella is rare and dainty ; Oxalis lobata is 

 small and pretty, with golden flowers ; and the profuse 

 Oxalis rosea, with its tall stems and heads of rose-pink 

 flowers opening in sunshine, has surprised me by proving 

 apparently hardy here in the worst of winters. I think 

 these make up the most desirable species ; at all events, 

 with these four I rest content. 



The vast natural order of the Butterflies, whose Patron 

 Saint is the Sweet Pea, have many treasures for the rock- 

 garden, though there is a good deal of confusion among 

 them, and a certain difficulty of culture now and then. 

 Of the larger - growing things the Brooms are most 

 precious perhaps. Cytisus and Genista come very near 

 together, and both run to yellows, with one exception. 

 Cytisus purpureus is a fine dwarf shrub about a foot or 

 more in height, which spreads freely about, and would be 

 even prettier if its flowers were of a purer, cleaner colour. 

 However, the white form is irreproachable, and there is 

 a variety incarnatus, and another roseus, in which the 

 magenta tone is minimised. Cytisus Jrdoini is the gem 

 of the race, a rare and fascinating wee golden-flowered 

 shrub from the Maritime Alps, for a dry sunny bank; 



