GROWING ROCK-PLANTS IN THE GARDEN 
LOUISE B. WILDER 
Infinitely Better than a Rockery Upreared where Nature 
Never Intended is this Simple Method of Cultivation 
f STEADILY growing enthusiasm for the class of 
plants known as Rock-plants and Alpines characterizes 
present-day gardening; and it is not surprising when 
. it is remembered that the group exhibits such charm 
and variety, such dainty gaiety, and so subtly lures us on to 
experiment by hints of difficulties to be met and overcome before 
we may hope to please such shv little mountaineers. 
Now it is self-evident that many or even most gardens do not 
have appropriate sites for a special garden for the accommoda- 
tion of “Alpines”; and even when there is such site the acquire- 
ment of proper rockery is beset with difficulties. There are a 
hundred wrongly constructed rock gardens — utter absurdities 
as copies of some beautiful natural scenes, and utterly unfit as 
habitations for the helpless plants quartered therein — to one 
scientifically constructed and intelligently planted. It needs — 
and we should desire -more than a heap of earth and stones stuck 
over with forlorn rock plants in all the depressing stages of fail- 
ing health. But how difficult it is, without expert advice, and 
sometimes with it, to arrive at anything else. 
One need not read more than one of the many good books 
dealing with this type of gardening to realize the embarrass- 
ments, artistic, scientific and financial, which rear themselves 
threateningly in the path of the amateur who essays to build 
a rock garden. Being such an amateur myself and having met 
with more disconcerting failures at rock-garden architecture 
than I care to narrate — for if my achievements looked well 
no plant could remain alive in them; and if possible to plant life 
they were horrors to look upon — it may interest others held by 
the fascinations of these small folk to know that many of them 
may be enjoyed in a perfect physical state without a bona fide 
“ rock garden ” at all. 
Of course, stones we must have; but these are used in the 
construction of most gardens — in walls, paved paths or steps — 
and consequently are already there; and with a little ingenuity 
and selection these stone utilities may be made to serve as up- 
to-date apartments for even quite airy Alpines, who would snort 
scornfully as it were, and perish upon any spot assigned them 
in the ordinary flow'er borders. 
Crannied Wall and Stone-Paved Walk 
I N OUR garden all the beds and borders are raised about 
a foot and held in place by large stones partly sunk in the 
earth. These overlaid and festooned with rock plants, chosen 
with regard to what is behind, form the most delightful edgings 
in gardens — if not made too pretentious. 
It is by means of these stone edgings [that my most success- 
ful rock gardening is carried on. By inserting a flat stone be- 
hind a joint of two of the edging stones, it is possible to make a 
pocket of any kind of soil required— and this device also keeps 
at bay the prowling roots of the border outlaws that would other- 
wise hustle our small mountaineers completely out of existence. 
Aethionemas have done very well here and so have many Alpine 
Pinks and Campanulas — grateful for the cool root-run and the 
warm stones over which they may sprawl in luxurious comfort. 
Of course there have been failures, among which I am sorry to 
have to number Nierembergia rivularis, Dianthus alpinus, Cam- 
panula pulla, Linaria alpina, and Omphalodes verna. 
But we go on, making use of all the stone places to render 
our garden irresistible to Rock-plants ; and our measure of success 
has been flattering. No chink or crevice that may be rammed 
with earth and converted into a home for some small green thing 
is overlooked. And it has been such a delight to find that many 
Rock-plants which 1 had so earnestly — and vainly — tried to coax 
into the joy of living upon my garden borders (and ill-con- 
structed rockeries) fairly rushed into growth and bloom in a 
cranny of wall or steps, as if in haste to show there had been 
nothing personal in their former refusal to accept my hospitalit \ . 
It was thus with the pretty Mountain Erinus, the Chedder Pink 
and the winsome Campanula pusilla. 
Success though is not the result of simply possessing stones in 
the form of steps and walls and walks and edgings. There must 
be some understanding of Rock-plants — knowledge of their na- 
tural environments, their needs and their little stubbornnesses; 
for they are not as their brothers and sisters of the level garden 
by any means, though some will accept a place there with very 
good will. 
Just What is an “Alpine”? 
T HERE is some confusion in the use of the term “Alpine” 
as applied toplants. Technically, 1 believe, it signifies a plant 
inhabiting a mountain region above the limits of forest growth 
and does not arbitrarily imply a residence in the Alps, as is some- 
times stated. All Rock-plants are not Alpines, nor vice versa 
for many of the Alpines grow in fertile meadows and bogs. Our 
concern here is with Rock-plants, whether Alpines or not, 
whether belonging to a low or high altitude; and while there 
are many too shy and untamed to be tempted by anything 
within my humble means to offer them in place of their freedom, 
still the list of those that have accepted the change with serenity 
is of encouraging and ever increasing length. 
Nearly all my Rock-plants have been raised from seed — in 
pots and pans of leaf-mold and sand — and inserted in the cre- 
vices and joints in very early seedling-hood. Plants that are 
bought are too large and too settled in the habit of expecting 
plenty of room to take kindly to narrow quarters. Seed may 
be mixed directly with the soil in the cranny but 1 have not been 
so successful with this method. The most acceptable soil to 
the majority of Rock-plants is a combination of coarse sand and 
good loam freely intermixed with chips of stone, the latter pre- 
venting too rapid evaporation of the moisture. Some are lime 
lovers and consequently grateful for limestone chips. A cool 
root-run between stones with their heads in the sunshine is the 
dear desire of most of them; stagnant water and winter damp are 
their sure destruction! 
I have kept belated Alpines over the winter in my nursery 
beds by putting collars of stones close about each little throat 
to keep the crown well out of the damp; and 1 have also grown 
them — for experiment — in slightly raised beds of coarse gravel. 
One such bed sheltering that wildest and prettiest of Pinks, 
Dianthus sylvestris, was a perfect delight in spring, after 
passing through a most trying winter. In such beds other Rock- 
plants of doubtful stability have wintered safely — Silenes, 
Arenaria montana, Calandrinia umbellata, Lychnis alpina and 
Linum alpinum. Sometimes after a hard winter the Rock-plants 
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