ROCKWORK. 



248 



RCEMERIA. 



plants. Imitations of nature should 

 always consist of large blocks of stone 

 of the same kind, and should for 

 the most part be disposed in imitation 

 of some kind of stratification. At 

 the same time, as in many parts of the 

 country, large, round, orroundisb, or 

 angular blocks of stone are found dis- 

 tributed over the surface, it is not 

 objectionable to collect these together 

 in groups so as to form a feature in 

 scenery, and to insert plants among 

 them. Rockwork as a mere nidus 

 for plants should never be attempted 

 on a large scale without the introduc- 

 tion of large blocks of stone, and 

 some kind of sti'atification being 

 adopted : and in this case, as before 

 mentioned, using one kind of stone 

 will produce an effect in accordance 

 with that of nature. On a small scale, 

 however, different kinds of stone may 

 be used, more especially when these 

 are well covered with plants ; but 

 even on a small scale, one kind of 

 stone has always a better effect, and 

 will be felt more agreeable to the 

 eye, than a mixture of bricks, 

 flints, pieces of granite, freestones, 

 and perhaps marble, shells, fragments 

 of carved stones, and even roots, 

 which are not unfrequently seen in 

 even the best gardens. Rockwork 

 should always be an independent fea- 

 ture. It rarely looks well when 

 piled up against a wall or around the 

 roots of a tree, or in any situation 

 where it is overshadowed by trees ; 

 in short, where it does not form the 

 prominent feature in the scene. It 

 looks well near water and merging 

 into it, or in an open airy garden 

 where it is surrounded by a gravel- 

 walk ; but it does not look so well 

 when rising from turf, without an ad- 

 joining walk, or when large shrubs 

 grow up among the stones. Where 

 there are collections of such plants as 

 Saxifrages or other alpines, or of 

 Cistuses, Helianthemums, or other 



mountain shrubs, rockwork is very 

 desirable ; and in such cases, it may 

 be placed on a lawn, as a feature in a 

 general collection of herbaceous plants 

 or shrubs arranged according to the 

 natural system : but rockwork as an 

 ornamental object, or as a nidus for a 

 miscellaneous collection of plants, 

 should always be in an open airy 

 situation near a pond, or surrounded 

 by a walk. In short, it may be laid 

 down as a general principle that rock- 

 work should either adjoin gravel or 

 a piece of water, and should seldom 

 or never adjoin trees or grass ; or 

 walls or buildings. 



One of the most common faults in 

 rockwork is the indiscriminate mix- 

 ture together of all sorts of stones, 

 bricks, shells, fragments of statuary 

 or sculpture, and even roots of trees ; 

 which latter object, though very suit- 

 able as receptacles for plants, should 

 always be arranged in masses apart 

 from any intermixture of stones. — 

 See Rootwork. 



Rodriguezia. — Orchidacea. — 

 Orchideous Epiphytes, natives of 

 tropical South America. R. secunda 

 has beautiful pink flowers ; but the 

 other species have generally drooping 

 racemes of greenish yellow flowers, 

 more graceful than positively beauti- 

 ful. All the kinds should be grown 

 iu moss, and they all succeed better 

 on wood than in pots. — See Orchi- 

 deous Epiphytes. 



Roe x lla. — Campanulacece. — 

 Cape plants, generally with blue 

 flowers, which have somewhat of the 

 dazzling glossy hue of Venus's Look- 

 ing-glass. The shrubby kinds are of 

 low growth, and rather difficult to 

 propagate ; but the annual species are 

 of very easy culture, and only require 

 the usual treatment of half-hardy 

 annuals. — See Annuals. 



Rcemeria. — Papaveraceee. — The 

 purple Horned -Poppy. This is a very 

 beautiful flower; but unfortunately. 



