Simple Rock Garden Effects—s. s. avam 
New 
» York 
ROCKS AND SPRING FLOWERS GO SINGULARLY WELL TOGETHER AND WITH THE TWO IT IS EASY TO 
CREATE DELIGHTFUL COLOR EFFECTS FOR APRIL AND MAY 
T IS not at all strange that the 
majority of spring garden flowers 
seem to need rocks to set them off; . 
in most cases nature intended them 
to have the stony contrast. But this is 
not a plea for that highly specialized 
thing the rock garden. Rather is it to 
show how much can be done in the 
way of springtime pictures with plants 
easily raised, a small number of stones 
—perhaps to be had for the asking—and 
not a great deal of time or thought. 
For a border or two with rocks, as a 
permanent home for spring flowers, is 
one of the simplest of garden matters. 
And if you are sighing for a real rock 
garden—the Alpine sort—that is be- 
yond your reach, this compromise is a 
pleasant enough consolation. All that 
needs to be done is to line a path with 
stones of irregular size and six inches 
to a foot high and fill in with sufficient 
good soil to a line not less than four 
feet back from the path. i 
That is the bare essential. It is more 
than desirable that a part of the path 
should be shaded and if it is not straight 
so much the better. If the outer lines 
are crooked, better yet; if there be little 
side paths, still better. And it is not 
much more work to double the natu- 
ralistic effectiveness by placing, before 
filling in the border, stones that will, 
here and there, break the ground into 
pockets and others that will outline the 
background. With a little extra thought, 
and work, the garden may be elevated 
at points. 
‘For such a rockset border there are 
available so many perennials, including 
all the spring bulbs, that the difficulty 
is to choose from the array of color ma- 
terial. One of the most charming of 
the effects in the pictures herewith is 
also one of the easiest to create. This 
is nothing more than the juxtaposition 
of the sortof light tapestry blue of Phlox 
divaricata and the bright gold of Alys- 
sum saxatile. Only three plants of each 
will create it, or there may be bold color 
painting with dozens of both. 
Another excellent contrast may be ob- 
tained with the clear blue of that sadly 
unappreciated old-fashioned flower, 
Polemonium reptans, and the white of 
the hardy Evergreen Candytuft, Iberis 
sempervirens. The Polemonium has 
myriads of little bells and they fall very 
gracefully over rockwork. Biennial 
Forget-me-not and Arabis albida are 
another good blue and white combina- 
tion. Or the Forget-me-not may be 
used in both the blue and the white 
variety. 
Purple and mauve are by no flower 
better furnished than by the Aubrietia. 
Here a little patch of Aubrietia wanders down into 
a scattered colony of yellow, red and pink Primulas 
and has behind it the double Arabis albida. 
Hither from seed or otherwise this com- 
paratively rare plant in American gar- 
dens is not difficult of cultivation. Were 
it so, its various hues would be too pre- 
cious to lose. The Aubrictia goes par- 
ticularly well with the creamy white of 
the double Arabis albida. Both are rock 
or wall cresses, but they provide two 
distinct forms as well as colors—a thing 
to be considered in planting a rock bor- 
der. Pale yellow Primulas—more espe- 
cially the common English Primrose— 
in front of Aubrietia and behind that, 
in turn, Double Arabis and Alyssum 
saxatile, are a very pleasing combina- 
tion of four flowers. Naturally, the dis- 
position of each must be very irregular; 
no straight rows or spottiness in such a 
border as this. ; 
Primulas of many kinds fit well into 
this sort of garden scheme; they like 
being kept well above the level of the 
path and some of them feel more at 
home with the rocks near by. All the 
pink and blue Primulas and the Auricula 
should be colonized separately and in 
the case of Hybrid Polyanthuses and 
Cowslips care should be taken that the 
colors are contrasted rather than mixed. 
Sheets of white, rose or mauve close to 
the ground are, of course, best obtained 
by Phlox subulata. A good variation is 
to let this plant do for the mauve and go 
to the beautiful Ajuga reptans var. 
alba, for white and to Phlox amoena, 
reptans and ovata, for successive rose 
notes. Ae. 
The skyline of a spring garden is nor- 
mally low, but here and there the joyous 
yellow of the Leopard’s Bane (Doroni- 
cum), and any of the Columbines may 
be used to give a semblance of height. 
Single Daffodils and single Late Tulips, 
in irregular plantings, serve the same 
good purpose. 
The plumy Bleeding Heart (Dielytra 
spectabilis) is doubly valuable, as its 
beautiful foliage and its pink bloom are 
not only grateful in spring but do not 
pass until the summer is over. All of 
the species of Dianthus, not forgetting 
the dainty Maiden Pink (D. deltoides), 
are suitable material; so are all of the 
Stonecrops. The latter are good for 
spring foliage color, though their bloom 
comes later. And there are the early 
Dwarf Irises (I. pumila and cristata) ; 
between them they provide purple, lav- 
ender and straw color. But already 
more than enough kinds of flowers for 
the first year’s thought have been men- 
tioned. 
Three plants each of Alyssum saxatile (bright yellow) and Phlox divaricata (dul! 
blue) will create a charming little springtime picture like this 
156 
A bit of rock border easily duplicated. 
Various spring flowers, with the blue 
Polemonium reptans in the foreground and white Iberis sempervirens behind it 
