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THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 



but if the rock can be broken and the roots followed up they will be found, very possibly, 

 to follow the fissure inward for a yard or more. In both of these cases the roots, following 

 the line of least resistance to great depths, considering the size of the plants, remain 

 always moist, while foliage and flower are permeated with the warm rays of the sun. 

 This hint should be followed in our English rock gardens and the plants provided with 

 deep crevices where they may enjoy similar conditions, and, where this is done, they 

 will testify by their behaviour that such thoughtfulness is appreciated. Androsaces will 

 pour from ledge to ledge a very cataract of bloom, Edelweiss will flourish as on its native 

 mountains, and the little Campanulas bear their frail bells in profusion. 



A ROCK GARDEN IN SURREY 



Rock gardens should not be, as some of their constructors appear to imagine, 

 gardens of rocks. The mission of the stone is, not to be the prominent feature, but merely to 

 offer suitable root-run and protection for the plants. During the first year or so the stone will 

 naturally be rather more in evidence than desirable, but if the planting has been carefully and 

 systematically carried out, the main portion will soon be hidden beneath flower and foliage. 



Piling up rocks one above another, as if it were desired to make a stone-yard, is not the 

 way to create a beautiful rock garden ; and though this evil has been pointed out by 

 authorities upon the subject for many years past, this form of gardening, which may 

 truly be called " rockery," is painfully common. No alpine meadow flowers can 

 garland these dreary wastes of rock, put together without a thought of the plants 

 that need deep pockets of soil or crevices for their far-reaching roots. Another 

 evil is a combination of rockery and " rootery." A " rootery " may be artistic, if 

 constructed with rare taste, but putting roots here and there in the rock garden is 

 the best way to fill the whole place with objectionable fungoid growths. In a few 

 years the roots commence to decay, fungi follows naturally, and the flowers sicken. Far 



