510 



rHE GARDENERS* MAGAZINE. 



July 6, 1912. 



A.MONG THE ALPINE 



FLOWERS. 



"The lanes are full of roses, 

 The fields are grassy deep; 

 The leafineas and floweriness 

 Make one abundant heap." 



•Leigh Hunt. 



With the country full of delights, and the 

 borders gay with sumnaer flowers, the rock 

 garden has a stiff task in its endeavour to 

 attract us by its charms. As we roam 

 through the country lanes or up and down 

 some flowery glens, we gee so much to entice 

 as that the more modest beauties of the 

 alpine flowers might well seem tame and 

 insipid; while if we seek the paths which 

 lead among the garden's borders we shall 

 find beauties of the most glowing order, 

 and visions of grace difficult to surpass. 



Yet the alpine lover is not inclined to 

 swerve from the ohjects of his affections, 

 and will find among them many treasures 

 dear to him, even when many others have 

 veiled themselves in modest green garments 

 and no longer shine in hright colouring or 

 fascinate us with their charming blossoms. 

 liCt us look among those which welcome the 

 summer sun, and see their graces and their 

 points of beauty and discourse awhile upon 

 their ways ! 



Campanula Stansfieldi. 



Of all the race of alpine flowers, we have 

 none, I think, so valuable for summer 

 bloom as the campanulas, a varied and 

 beautiful race, indeed, and one we never 

 seem to tire of. We look for their coming 

 with eagerness; we delight in them while 

 they are in bloom, and we mourn un- 

 feignedly when their season is over, and 

 our gardens are bereft of their graces for 

 the season. To the keen cultivator, too, 

 they present an almost Protean variety, 

 both in their characters and their ways. 

 The one who is content with easy " plants 

 will find among them many beauties which 

 will not tax his skill too greatly. On the 

 other hand, the one who takes a pride in 

 conquering cultural difficulties will discover 

 among these little harebells, or bell-flowers 

 many rarities which will tax his skill to the 

 utmost. The true lover of alpines comes 

 in midway between the two. He likes an 

 ''easy plant/' but he thinks that a good 

 one of any class is worth some trouble, and 

 so he seeks to cultivate the best of these 

 charming flowers. Surely Campanula 

 Stansfieldi appeals to the last-mentioned 

 in the highest degree! As we gaze upon 

 it now we must rejoice in its beauty, and 

 seek to give to others an inspiration to add 

 Stansfield's bellflower to their rock 



gardens. , ^ • i 



Picture a little hush, only a few inches 

 high, of yellowish, hairy-lookmg, small 

 leaves, above which are borne many of the 

 dainty soft lilac flowers, with their petals 

 arranged like a tapering, shallow, and open 

 bell It is a picture of heauty, and is a 

 little alpine which should rank among the 

 indispensables. I suppose we owe it to tnat 

 redoubtable alpinist of Southport whose 



and we must consider him 

 a happy man in having his patrynomic 

 immortalised in this lovely plant. That it is 

 easy to grow would appear from the some- 

 what conflicting advice respecting its cul- 

 tural needs. We are advised to plant it m 

 a cool, shady spot; we are also recom- 

 mended to set it on a flat part of the 

 rockerv in sun. That it does m either sun 

 or shade appears evident, and the writer 

 has it in both, and each plant is doing 

 equally welL 



Silene Saxlfraga- 



To the ardent enthusiasts in-alpine plants 

 there is always somo^laing wanting in the 



na 



it bea 



descriptions we receive of some of our pet 

 plants. A botanical one must, of necessity, 

 be deficient in anything but the baldest de- 

 tail, and sometimes it is most unsatis- 

 fying indeed. Take, for example, Silene 

 Saxifraga the Saxifrage Catchfly. Its 

 colour is said to be yellowish on the upper 

 surface, reddish-brown beneath." This re- 

 minds one of the herbarium rather than the 

 rock garden, and we feel that the human 

 element is absent ; yet how difficult is it 

 to give a better account ! As growing on 

 the rock garden this alpine catchfly makes 

 a charming carpet of nice little green leaves, 

 almost grass-like in their tenuity. Above 

 these are sightly raised some, but not a 

 crowd of, pretty, nicely-formed, roundish, 

 notched flowers, which it is somewhat of a 

 libel to call '^yellowish," so nearly pure or 

 creamy-white are they. The underside of 

 the petals is of a nice shade of almost pale 

 red-brown. The whole plant is not more 

 than about six inches high— in poor soil not 

 more than three or four inches. An im- 

 pressionist writer has spoken of this as a 

 spidery-looking plant, interesting but not 

 brilliant, with dreamy flowers, ibrownish 

 on the outside." It is not easy to see where 

 the term ^'spidery-looking" comes in, but 

 otherwise the account of the flower is good, 

 and the recital of these different views will 

 assist the reader in considering whether to 

 covet the plant or not. It gives little 

 trouble on a level terrace, and seems to 

 appreciate a part of the rock garden r<4her 

 near the base. 



Dianthus sylvestris. 



There are many lovely and dainty flowers 

 among the alpine pinks, or dianthuses, and 

 he is indeed happy who has a good collec- 

 tion of these charming flowers. The stu- 

 dent of what to purchase could hardly do 

 better than visit the rock garden at Kew, 

 where he will see many beautiful species 

 admirably grown if at all possible to do so. 

 A lovely species, hardly ever seen in the 

 rock garden of the time, is Dianthus sylves- 

 tris, now in bloom here on a sunny south- 

 west ledge. There are alpine pinks with 

 larger flowers, but that does not detract 

 from the fact that this is a gem among the 

 race, and a plant we should all attempt to 

 grow well. But, alas! it has its own ways, 

 and cultivators agree that it is by no means 

 such an obliging plant as it looks. Even 

 the most ardent and experienced growers 

 evidently learn that it dies off without 

 apparent cause, so that it is a oomfoi\t to 

 be able to say that it is flourishing well 

 here, and that it has had already a fair 

 lease of life. From a good turf of narrow, 

 deep, glaucous green, grass-like leaves it 

 sends up lovely single flowers of a warm 

 and charming^ rose. AVhy one of its 

 svnonyms seems to be Dianthus " frigidus " 

 it is difficult to conceive, seeing that its 

 colouring at least is by no means cold." 

 Nowhere has the writer seen it thriving so 

 well as on an artificial moraine, save, per- 

 haps, in his own garden, where it is on a 

 south-west ledge m poor, hard soil, well 

 mixed with grit and surfaced with whin- 

 stone chips, such as are use<l for surfacing 

 tar-painted roads. These seem as a breath 

 of life to many alpines, preserving them 

 from decaying at the neck in rainy places, 

 especially in winter. 



Silene maritima plena. 



Yet our gardens should not only possess 

 the newer flowers, but also the old favou- 

 rites aad one of these which looks as if 

 it might pass out of cultivation, so little 

 is it seen now, is Silene maritima plena, the 

 double variety of a common seaside plant 

 which covers many gravelly sea beaches 

 with thin carpets of glaucous leaves and 



sincde white flowers, and is occasion- 



" ' ' a 



rose-coloured form. This little wilding ha& 

 long ago blossomed out into a double- 

 flowered variety, with big white flowers 

 almost like those of, say, Pink Mrs. Sin- 

 kins, quite double, nicely fringed, and alto- 

 gether a desirable plant, when hanging over 

 a stone, and a great success in stony and 

 gravelly soil. I grew it years ago — more 

 years than I care to tell of now — and lost 

 it when family illnesses made plant growing 

 a burden which could not be fully borne 

 It likes some top-dressing, and without this 

 may die off at the neck. But it thrives in 

 the poorest soil, and is a good old plant 

 worth keeping in remembrance, though it 

 has not the fragrance of the pink it so- 

 much resembles. 



Other Flowers. 



There is the usual bewildering choice of 

 other subjects, such as helianthenmms, 

 with their fugacious but brilliant flowers; 

 dianthuses, or alpine pinks, in almost end- 

 less choice ; gypsophilas, trailing over the 

 stones with lace-like flowers ; poppies, from 

 the dainty little Papaver alpinum, in 

 variety, to the Iceland and other taller 

 flowers of Lethe ; w^hile anthemises ar.d 

 achilleas yet give some of their white or 

 yellow flowers. There are, as usual, viclas 

 and violets in the utmost variety of c^4our- 

 ing and markings, little and taller lych- 

 nises, silenes, or catchflies in other forms 

 than S. Saxifraga ; thrifts and acantholi- 

 mons, yet full of flower ; an almost endless 

 choice of dwarf bellflowers ; cerastiums, still 

 in sheets of white ; and a perfect galaxy of 

 other flowers, telling us that though mid- 

 summer has come and gone, the alpine 

 garden yet holds its beauties and its de- 

 lights to all who love it and give it the 

 needed care. Arnott. 



THE PROPHET FLOWER- 



This is one of the most delightful early- 

 flowering subjects for the herbaceous bor- 

 der or rock garden, and, although it has 

 been in cultivation for a great many years, 

 it does not appear to have received the re- 

 cognition that it deserves. The flowers, 

 which are freely produced from early in 

 April onwards, are a bright primros^yel- 

 low, and when they first open have several 

 dark brown spots on the corolla, but these 

 marks gradually fade away and disappear. 

 The plants do not exceed a foot m height, 

 but when fully developed the flowers are 

 so profuse that they almost entirely hide 



the foliage. , 



The species succeed in any good gf-o™ 

 soil, either in the open or in partial sha<le, 

 but a fairlv light rooting medium that can 

 be kept uniformlv moist suits it the best. 

 When planted in masses in contrast to 

 Viola gracilis, it is very telling, and eacii 

 helps to displav the other to advantage. 

 The Prophet Flower, which is known 

 botanically as Arnebia echioides, is a native 

 of the Caucasus and Northern Persia, anu 

 is perfectly hardy in our climate. P^?^ 

 sesses narrow, veined leaves that die bacK 

 in early winter, but the plant is quick to 

 commence new growth with the first sign or 

 spring. Tlie Prophet Flower can be most 

 readily propagated by division of th^ 

 either in spring or autumn, but if this i 

 done in September, and the young ph^nts 

 are kept in a cold frame during the winter 

 neat specim.ens are obtained for flowering 

 the following spring. J. Gakdneb. 



ally 



ented 



rock gardens by 



'11 



"CARNATIONS, PICOTEES. AND P^^^f^ ^ ^'^^ 



teU you plainly how to grow these f^7«^/^^J^'*!lfth 

 to {^rfection. The wotlc is freely ^l^^^^^^^iL 

 plates of I^^ing varieties, and exp:anfttory 

 Price 3s. 6d. nit by po^t, in tK>x 2s. lOd. from >^ 

 H. and L. Collin^riV. 1^8 a^nd 149, Alders-ate 

 Street, London. 



