NORMAN TOWER GARDEN 25 



in bloom but does not long to possess an example ? It is doing 

 well here planted in a compost of peat and loam, with plenty 

 of small stones and sand added to keep the soil open, and let 

 moisture pass freely away to the roots, in a position facing due 

 south. L. graminifolium, rosmarinifolium, and several others 

 are also grown, and by the true enthusiast in rock plants are 

 valued as much, if not more than the variety prostratum. But 

 for the majority of gardeners, amateurs as well as professionals, 

 L. prostratum is the favourite, possibly on account of its being 

 easier to grow, and also because of its beautiful blue colour, 

 which rivals that of the Gentians in its intensity. 



Phyteumas I am planting extensively in the old walls of 

 the moat. As they are usually found growing on limestone 

 rocks in their native home, they do well in these walls and 

 appreciate the old mortar in them, while they are fairly safe 

 there from the attacks of slugs, who are very partial to the 

 young shoots, and quickly destroy a plant. They are a quaint, 

 yet withal beautiful, race of plants, with flowers of various 

 shades of blue. 



Primulas, with a few notable exceptions, are not a great 

 success here, probably owing to the amount of chalk there is 

 in the soil. I have excavated sites, and filled them up with 

 specially prepared composts, only to have failure recorded over 

 and over again. It seems impossible to reproduce the natural 

 conditions in which many of these beautiful Alpine plants 

 grow. Coming as many of them do from very high altitudes, 

 and frequently growing in niches or crevices of the rocks, 

 their roots are always cool and moist, whilst their foliage 

 remains dry. Like the Gentians, they seem to miss the strong, 

 pure and dry mountain air, and find that our lowland climate 

 enervates them, and robs them of their vitality. P. denti- 

 culata and its varieties ; rosea, marginata, calycina, confinis, 

 frondosa, and a few others are the exceptions, though these 

 need constant attention in the matter of top-dressing and 

 dividing to keep them in good health. 



Saxifragas are well represented in Norman Tower garden, 

 over a hundred species and varieties being grown, some of 



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