EASY ROCK AND WALL GARDENING 97 



distance in search of food. No one, therefore, need expect 

 to have a successful rockery who first dumps his stones 

 down in a heap, and then piles the earth on the top of 

 them. Each stone or piece of rock must be planted 

 firmly, ends pointing downwards, as in building a flint 

 wall, so that roots can run down easily through the 

 soil between them ; and it is best to work after a plan, 

 arranging the " rock " in a sort of orderly disorder like a 

 stratification, with here and there a " fault." So anxious 

 were we to make our rockery look natural, that we 

 referred to one of Mr. Geikie's geology books, and chose 

 our style of stratification from that. 



It was a long time before we managed to place the 

 stones exactly to our minds, but we did succeed at last, 

 after one or two trials and a few alterations. Then 

 came a period of waiting till things had settled down. 

 We gave temporary lodgings among the rocks to tufts of 

 London Pride, the pretty pink Saxifrage, that so well 

 deserves its name and is so invaluable a plant in any 

 difficult garden, as it will grow anywhere and remains in 

 bloom so many months. Creeping Jenny was another 

 stop-gap, quite as hardy as London Pride, and flowering 

 almost directly after you plant it, if it is given a little 

 water and some sunshine ; Lung-wort and common 

 Campanulas we put in too, with odds and ends of all the 

 weedy things that inhabit every garden and consider 

 themselves, as it were, joint owners of it. We robbed 

 the Herb-border, too, of bits of gold and silver Thyme, 

 that so much loves growing on a bank and is so fragrant ; 

 these latter were allowed to stay, and we would have had 

 Balm too, had space permitted. 



Later on came a visit to Mr. Barr's nursery-ground, 

 from whence we drove home the richer by a number of 

 little sandy pots, in each pot a treasure. Whenever I 

 visit this flowery region in search of Daffodils, I never 

 can find time to admire the Daffodils because of being so 



H 



