The rock garden, at Smith College, made up of specially prepared pocKets of soil 

 and every sort of exposure to suit the greatest variety of plants 



To grow alpines from seed, start them in cold frames in some sheltered nooK. 

 Best results will generally follow from summer or fall sowing 



Alpine Flowers of Easiest Cultivation— By James T. Scott, 



New 

 York 



TREASURES FROM HIGH ALTITUDES THAT WILL GROW IN LOWLAND GARDENS WITHOUT A SPECIAL ROCKERY- 

 HOW TO CARPET BARE ROCKS AND ROADSIDE LEDGES WITH FLOWERS THAT ONLY NEED A PINCH OF SOIL 



THE alpine plants worth growing in Amer- 

 ica are chiefly hardy perennial herbs 

 that make tufts or rosettes, or carpet the 

 ground with a continuous sheet of flowers. 

 Examples are the famous gentians, pinks and 

 primroses of Switzerland. These plants are 

 not confined to the European Alps, but come 

 from all high mountains and therefore, in 

 horticultural literature, the word "alpine" 

 has become so generalized that it is no longer 

 capitalized 



Unfortunately some of the choicest alpines 

 can be grown only in a special rockery, 

 where they can have cool air, plenty of light, 

 but without shade, with constant moisture, 

 but perfect drainage. Yet there are plenty 

 that can be grown in the ordinary border 

 which are able to withstand the alternate 

 freezing and thawing of American winters. 

 These are the subject of the present article, 

 and^also plants that will cover rocks that have 

 only two or three inches of soil above them. 



The one best plant for such a situation is 

 the moss pink Phlox subidata. This will 

 subsist upon a very meagre fare. Two or 

 three inches of good soil on the top of a rock 

 or a gravelly bank will suffice. It forms a 

 complete mat in a very short time, and will 

 stand the heat and drought of summer on 

 an exposed bank, where grass will refuse to 

 grow. In spring and early summer (April, 

 May and June) it will produce a blaze of 

 pink blossoms that will last for two or three 

 months. Small clumps are pretty in odd 

 corners, or in mixed borders, but can be ap- 

 preciated at its true value only when seen in 



large masses, with no other color around 

 save the surrounding green. After the flush 

 of flowers i over its glory is past for a year, 

 but it will remain green and thrifty through- 

 out the ; ummer. When buying, get pot- 

 grown plants if possible, as they are prac- 

 tically sure to live, but if dug from ihe 

 open ground, and shipped any distance, 

 there is danger from drying out. If planted 

 one foot apart each way they will com- 



The sort of rock garden where alpines will not grow. 

 No soil and no moisture present 



The simplest sort of rockery that anyone can make. 

 Thoroughly practical, and with no special soil pockets 



133 



Grows in any soil, but will do amazingly if highly 

 fed. Garden anemone (A. coronaria) 



