134 ALPINES AND BOG-PLANTS 



a very attractive kind — seem to have a biennial constitu- 

 tion, or at all events a tendency to miff away. Sedum 

 oregonum and Sedum spathulatum are closely related — 

 medium-sized plants, distinctly attractive, with glaucous 

 or glossy spathulate leaves, which in the svlertdens-iorvas 

 of oregonum, are of a gorgeous blood-red. And, in con- 

 clusion, I must disclaim any authority for the names I 

 give. They are reported as I have had them ; I believe 

 them to be trustworthy, but I have never yet specialised 

 on the Sedums, and I think it unlikely that I ever shall. 



The same may be said of Sempervivum — but in a very 

 different, sad, contrite spirit. If I were certain of two 

 hundred years of life, I would begin specialising on the 

 Sempervivums to-morrow. But one's life is short, and one's 

 horticultural interests many. It is not possible to run so 

 many horses abreast ! — if there were room in one's days 

 for all one's enthusiasms, I would specialise on Iris, Tulip, 

 Lily, Sempervivum, Saxifrage, Odontoglossum, Gentian, 

 Primula, and goodness knows how many charmers more 

 all at once. But, as things stand, a wretched writer of 

 books, who is also a worshipper of Orchids, as well as a 

 slave of the plants, and an amateur of all stray expensive 

 lovelinesses to boot, must perforce put a rein on some, at 

 least, of his possible fanaticisms ; for, if pain follows on 

 desire as certainly as the wheel follows the foot of the ox 

 that draws the cart, so do bills inexorably dog the path 

 of all who let themselves be snared by the delight of the 

 eyes. Therefore I will hasten on past Sempervivum with 

 a shamefaced, sidelong glance, adding nothing to what I 

 said earlier, apropos of S. arachnoideum. 



I have already dealt with the small Phyteumas, but 

 there are some of the larger kinds which come well into 

 the garden. 



The others most desirable are Charmelii, Scheuchzeri, 

 and orbiculare. Of these I pin most of my affection to 



