204 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



garden, breaking up masses and giving 

 a very un- Alpine look to the scene. 



The repetition of the 



TZ° n J:::.' «me thbg & ™er the 

 rock-garden is the surest 

 way to destroy harmonious and right 

 colour. If we are fond of Yellow Alys- 

 sum, or any other showy plant, let it 

 be on a bank or wall in a bold way in 

 one place ; or, if it is a plant we are very 

 fond of, we may even have two or three 

 groups of it in different aspects, but if 

 scattered all along the same line of view 

 the result is fatal to any harmony of co- 

 lour. Again, harsh contrasts should be 

 avoided, seeking rather gentle and har- 

 monious effect. The groupingand mass- 

 ing should never be stiff ; masses might 

 run one into the other here and there, 

 and need not alwaysbe confined to plants 

 of one sort. Things of like stature and 

 character might at times be allowed to 

 run together, any hard and fast rule being 

 against good work in gardening as in 

 art. The making and keeping up of a 

 good rock-garden is a costly thing, and 

 the least return that can be expected by 

 those willing to incur the cost is to get 

 the full colour value from the plants. 



Often, even in well-formed 

 rock-gardens, there are 

 grass paths which are troublesome to 

 keep and less good in their effect than 

 those of stone. Also, in some of our best 

 rock-gardens, there are often isolated 

 rocks surrounded by grass, whereas they 

 ought always to rise out of a bed of 

 Thyme, creeping Speedwells, dwarf 

 Heaths, Daphnes, or Milkworts. Some 

 of the most charming scenes in those 

 parts of the Alps richest in plants are 



Grass. 



where single stones rise, perhaps, only 

 a couple of feet out of ground which is 

 densely covered with dwarf Daphne or 

 Alpine Anemone. If fearful of tram- 

 pling upon such plants (which we need 

 not always be, seeing how the Thyme 

 upon our heaths will bear trampling), 

 the simplest way is to put a few old flag- 

 stones down as a path, placed not more 

 than a foot apart ; these permit of pas- 

 sage in all weathers without injuring the 

 plants. Spaces wasted in many rock- 

 gardens upon grass or gravel might, if 

 well-carpeted, give good colour, and 

 may at least be planted with Thyme, 

 Stonecrop, Rockfoil, tiny Peppermint, 

 and Sandworts. The objection to grass 

 is that it is not nearly so good in effect 

 as the rock-flowers, and it has constantly 

 to be cut at the cost of needless labour. 



Since writing the above a wall co- 

 vered with Erinus has come into view, 

 and not for the first time. Its modest 

 colour is most effective when held to- 

 gether in this way, and there could 

 hardly be a better example of the fine 

 colour value that lies half hidden in these 

 mountain flowers. As a dot this plant 

 is without effect; on the wall it is beau- 

 tiful hundreds of yards away, as well as 

 in every nearer point of view. — W. R. 



A Giant Thistle for the Wild Garden. — 

 We are indebted to Mr. Hiatte Baker of Oak- 

 lands, Almondsbury (Glos.), for a very inte- 

 resting photo showing the fine effect of a giant 

 Thistle {Gnicus candelabrus) in his garden. It 

 is a biennial, a native of Greece and the Balkan 

 peninsula, and in rich soil rises fully 10 feet 

 when in flower, with handsome foliage and a 

 graceful forward droop of its many flower 

 heads. Its value when grouped for effect is 

 well shown in the photograph, which we regret 

 is not suitable for an engraving. 



