84 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GAEDEXIXG. 



every day when it is mild, and plant them in the 

 open so soon as hardened off. Any light sandy soil 

 will do in which to root the cuttings. It should be 

 made firm, the cuttings needing the compression to 

 force the emission of roots. Late cuttings should 

 be inserted where they may have protection in winter. 



Aubrietias do not ripen seeds very freely, except- 

 ing just here and there in warm and sheltered 

 localities. Where they do so the seed should be 

 sown very thinly and as soon as rii^e. These plants 

 do not come very true 

 from seeds, but main- 

 tain general uniformity 

 of height and colour, 

 and within these narrow 

 bounds the more variety 

 and individuality the 

 better. The genus was 

 named after a French 

 botanical draughtsman, 

 M. Aubriet, and the first 

 Aubrietias were intro- 

 duced from' the Levant 

 in 1710. They now 

 abound in all directions, 

 and hundreds of gardens, 

 large and small, would 

 look poor and stale in 

 the spring if the Aubrie- 

 tias were withdi-awn. 

 They look well almost 

 everywhere, anyhow, in 

 large tufts Or wide 

 edgings, in juxtaposition 

 with such plants as the 

 Yellow or Eock Alyssum 

 and the early Forget-me- 

 not, Myosotis dissitiflora. 

 With alternate ]5atches 

 of these, few plants can 



equal Aubrietias for the clothing of raised banks or 

 rockeries, or intermixing with choice hardy ferns. 



The Alyssum. — For a brilliant display of Hght, 

 almost fluffy, golden flowers throughout April and 

 May, there is nothing to equal the grand old Alyssum 

 saxatilc, or Eock Alyssum, or Madwort, as this magni- 

 ficent spring border flower is called. The name is 

 derived, so it is said, from the supposed efficacy of the 

 Alyssum to allay anger or rage. Were this true, this 

 plant, popular as it is, would no doubt soon be more 

 so. But this particular species at least is, we fear, 

 too brilliant to exert any such soothing tendency. 

 And yet yellow, although oftentimes associated with 

 jealousy, is not the coloiu" that is chosen to indi- 

 cate rage or passion : scarlet, and the proverbial red 



AUBRIETIA CaMPBELLII 



rag, are too well established to be dethroned by 

 any and every shade of yellow or orange. And 

 the yellow of the Alyssum is a specially soft and 

 soothing colour. Almost everybody admires it, and 

 it contrasts and yet blends adnrirably with almost 

 all other colours. The Eock Alyssum enjoys light 

 and air thoroughly. To flower it in bright masses 

 it should be grown quite in the open, and in no 

 way overhung with shrubs, trees, or tall herbaceous 

 plants. It enjoys a fine dry and open position, where 

 every ray of the spring 

 simshine can be utilised 

 and converted into 

 waving plumes of golden 

 beauty. Its flowering 

 season is from April to 

 June. In warm situa- 

 tions it flowers even 

 later, but it is seldom 

 seen in bloom till to- 

 wards the middle or end 

 of April. It refuses to 

 thi'ive in a wet, sour soil, 

 but if it only be dry it 

 grows well and blooms in 

 perfection, however poor 

 the ground may be. The 

 species reaches a foot to 

 fifteen inches in height, 

 its character being shrub- 

 by, not unlike that of 

 Sage. There is a varie- 

 gated variety which is 

 equally beautiful. There 

 is a smaller and more 

 compact variety exactly 

 like the species, only con- 

 siderably smaller, Alys- 

 sum saxatile compactum. 

 A. montanttm is a native 

 of Germany, and was introduced in 1713. It is of a 

 dwarf semi- shrubby habit, and the flowers are much 

 smaller than those of A. saxatile. It flowers in April, 

 and hardly seems so hardy as the more robust and 

 popular saxatile. Alyssum argenteum and alpestris are 

 a good deal alike, but neither of them is at all equal 

 to A. saxatile, or the mountain or rockj^ Alyssum. 

 Alyssum sp'mosum deserves growing for its foliage 

 rather than its flower. It forms a tiny silvery- 

 looking plant of about six inches high, and is one of 

 the neatest and most imique things in cultivation. 



These shrubby and herbaceous Alyssums are pro- 

 pagated by cuttings, root-division, and seeds. They 

 are not, however, by any means so easily increased 

 as the two other families of plants here classed with 

 them amonff common flowers. The wood of these 



