104 HOME AND GARDEN 



is rather the later of the two, but is already fairly well 

 in flower before the bloom of the Cuckoo-flower is over. 

 Nothing can be better than this httle Arenaria for any 

 cool place against stonework. A tuft or two planted 

 at the foot in autumn will creep up and cover a good 

 space of stony face in a short time. One has only to 

 see that it does not cling on to plants as well as stones, 

 for I have had it growing all over the surface of 

 Bamondia leaves, only catching it just in time to 

 prevent the Bamondia from being smothered. I am 

 watching with some interest a little patch that has 

 found a lodging in the middle of a spreading sheet of 

 Linaria hepaticcefolia, another of the small irrepressibles. 

 I want to see which of the two will have the mastery, 

 as it is the habit of both to completely cover any space 

 of ground or stonework they may be on. 



Any one who wishes to see silvery-green satin of the 

 highest quality should look at the back of the leaves 

 of Alchemilla alpina. Indeed the whole plant, though 

 anything but showy, is full of what one may call 

 interesting incident. I remember finding this out one 

 hot afternoon, when after a hard morning's work I sat 

 down, a good bit tired, on the lowest of the steps 

 leading into the little rock-garden. Just under my 

 hand was a tuft of this Lady's-Mantle, and half-lazily, 

 and yet with a faint prick of the moral spur that urges 

 me against complete idleness, I picked a leaf to have 

 a good look at it, and then found how much, besides 

 the well-known beauty of its satin back, there was to 



