292 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and tilings which grow in such tight quarters never encroach 

 much. The little Arenaria balearica, which grows all over sand- 

 stone as close and in nearly as thin a coat as paint upon wood, 

 does not grow well upon limestone ; but this plant does encroach, 

 spreading over the surface of small neighbours and smothering 

 them. There are many things, however, some herbaceous, some 

 shrubby and evergreen, which do well only on condition of rest- 

 ing upon stone with their leaves and branches. It is so with 

 Pentstemon Scouleri, and with that most charming dwarf shrub, 

 Genista pilosa, which rises hardly an inch off the stone, though 

 it may cover several square feet. There are many other such 

 plants, but a list of plant names is out of place here, and will be 

 given in an appendix. 



I have said before that in planting aspect must be carefully 

 considered. The best aspect for alpines is east, and west is the 

 worst ; but there is not a spot on any rockery which may not be 

 filled with a suitable tenant. Some of the most ornamental 

 flowers abhor, in the atmosphere of my garden, even a glimpse 

 of the sun. Bamonclia pyrenaica is withered up by it in an hour ; 

 so is Cyananthus lobatus ; and these must be shaded on every 

 side but north. As a general rule, I find all Himalayan alpines 

 impatient of sunshine ; they may endure it in their own home, 

 where they live in an atmosphere always saturated with wet. 

 However, it is only the deep recesses of the rockery towards the 

 north which get no sun at all, and plenty of things are quite 

 contented on the north side of the slope. 



It was said above that the rockery is intended for dwarf and 

 choice plants which will not thrive in other parts of the garden. 

 This, of course, includes some dwarf shrubs. For instance, I 

 must grow Lithospermum prostratum on stones or not at alh 

 The white Erica carnea, and several such dwarfs, are included 

 in the same number. These details everyone must settle for 

 himself. Such things are included in my definition of alpines. 

 As for bulbs, they may be ornamental enough at times, but I 

 find they do as well or better elsewhere. Their leaves are untidy 

 just at the time when the rockery ought to be most gay and 

 neat ; and watering in summer, which other plants require, is 

 bad for them, so I have not included them in my list. While 

 speaking of watering, I may say that rockeries such as I have' 

 described could not dispense with it in dry weather ; it requires 



