176 ALPINES AND BOG-PLANTS 



'hinterlands' of China. Each year its broad, glossy, 

 ferny leaves form a wider spread ; each year, above their 

 flattened mass, the stiff" straight stems shoot higher and 

 higher, clothed, all along the last foot of their length, 

 with innumerable crowded little flowers in a dense, close 

 spike. I cannot make up my mind about their colour 

 though. Do I love it or do I loathe it ? For the colour 

 is a furious magenta ; but a magenta deified by some 

 strange magic of violence or splendour — a deep, clamorous, 

 imperial tone. The fact is that Astilbe Davidii may be 

 adored without reserve, if only it be very carefully planted. 

 It must not be within a mile of any yellow, any orange, 

 any pure rose or scarlet ; and, unfortunately, it blooms in 

 the bog-garden, while the Panther Lily, Senecio clivorum, 

 and the pink Meadow-sweets are all in their mid-day, 

 dawn or decline of glory. It should, I think, be isolated 

 as a leper, not even admitted to communion with the 

 white flowers of blameless lives ; plant it all by itself in 

 a ferny hollow, with nothing but ferns and greenery 

 around, in a spot where the sun's darts may pierce the 

 woodland and kindle the full fire of its incandescent 

 purple ; then you will have reason to be perennially 

 grateful to Astilbe Davidii. Of Astilbe grandis I can 

 tell an unblemished tale, although the plant is too new 

 for any but the sketchiest commendation. But it can 

 certainly be said that Astilbe grandis is a plant of 

 impeccable character, robust as a nettle, a doubled, 

 gigantic version of Davidii, revelling equally riotously in 

 the same conditions, and throwing up aloe-like, sky- 

 ypointing pyramids of white bloom. 



And here, before I take my leave of the Spiraeas, I 

 must make room for the jewel of the race. This is not a 

 bog-plant, but a tiny treasure that delights in some cool 

 moist corner of the choice rock-work. But I am not sure 

 about the botanical position — even about the botanical 



