1878.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
101 
Alpine Plants for Common Gardens. 
Those who have visited high mountain regions in 
any part of the world, must have noticed the 
scarlet wind-flowers.— (Anemone fulgens.) 
abundance and brilliancy of the flowers which grow 
in those elevated localities. The plants found in 
these places have generally a low habit, pleasing 
foliage, and abundant and often brilliant flowers, 
which are all the more attractive on account of 
their dreary surroundings. Several works have 
been written upon Alpine plants (the best of which, 
Mr. Robinson’s, was noticed a few months ago), 
and some catalogues make a special list of such 
plants, and both works and catalogues indicate, 
that while there are some Alpine plants that can 
only be satisfactorily cultivated when their native 
locality is imitated by an artificial rock-work, 
there are many others that will flourish in the ordi¬ 
nary garden. Some of our native plants that are 
never found growing wild except in wet and 
swampy localities, when taken to 
the drier and rich soil of the 
garden, flourish quite as well as, 
if not better, than in the wild 
state. So, many of those plants 
that naturally grow only in Al¬ 
pine regions, make themselves 
quite at home in our garden bor¬ 
ders. The term Alpine, as ap¬ 
plied to cultivated plants, is one 
not easy to define. While some 
of the natives of high regions 
are very difficult to manage, and 
can only be successfully culti¬ 
vated when the peculiarities of 
their natural habitats are imi¬ 
tated, others, and perhaps the 
majority, will flourish in the or¬ 
dinary border, especially if they 
have a mulch of stones to pre¬ 
vent their roots from drying out. 
As an illustration of this : One of 
our associates several years ago 
went on an expedition to the 
Rocky Mountains. As occasion 
offered, he sent home roots by 
mail; they came without labels, 
and all we knew of them was, 
they were plants from the Rocky 
Mountains. We had boxes filled 
with an open soil, set out the 
roots, and then paved the sur¬ 
face with stones from the size of a walnut, up¬ 
wards. Of course these stones acted only as a 
mulch, hut they saved many of the “Alpine” 
plants. Experience has taught us one thing about 
these plants: If the natural locality of a plant is 
“ Alpine,” that it is no reason that it will not flour¬ 
ish in our garden borders. We give here illustra 
tions of a few flowers usually classed as “ Alpine,” 
which may be grown in any ordinary garden. 
The Scarlet Wind-Flower. 
Our native Wind-flowers, or Anemones, especially 
the earliest, the Wood Anemones, (Anemone nemo - 
rosa), are noted for their delicacy of habit and of 
coloring, but the Scarlet Wind-flower ( Anemone 
fulgens ) of Southern Europe is quite the opposite of 
this. Instead of a modest habit and delicate color, 
it asserts itself in the most positive manner. Its 
flowers are erect, and the color of the most intense 
scarlet. As a general thing, the flowers of spring 
have delicate tints, but this shows the striking, 
vivid scarlet of the flowers of mid-summer. Trav¬ 
elers in Southern Europe and Western Asia, 
speak of the brilliant flowers of this species as ap¬ 
pearing above the snow. The foliage of this plant 
is deeply lobed and toothed, and is of itself hand¬ 
some ; the flower-stems arise from this, in vigorous 
plants, a foot high, bearing flowers about two 
inches across, of the form shown in the engraving, 
and in color of a most intense scarlet, with which 
the blackish color of the stamens presents a strong- 
contrast. No spring, flower within our knowledge 
is so brilliant as this. It is one of those plants which 
were introduced many years ago, but for some rea¬ 
son fell into neglect, and within a few years has 
been revived as a novelty. It seems quite hardy, 
and aside from its utility as a border plant, it will 
no doubt prove excellent for forcing in greenhouse 
or window culture. In contrast with this most 
gaudy of spring flowers, is one with the botanical 
name of Omphalodes verna —the name Omphalodes 
means “navel-like,” and refers to some resemblance 
of the seed to the navel. Its common name is 
Creeping Forget-lTIe-Not, or Navel-Wort. 
The plant is a native of the mountain woods of Eu¬ 
rope, and has proved perfectly hardy in this country. 
Its common name, “Creeping Forget-me-not,” in¬ 
dicates its relationship to the well-known “Forget- 
me-not,” but it is quite unlike that in habit, as it 
creeps closely upon the ground, whica it carpets 
with smooth, bright green foliage, from which 
arise numerous flower-stems about 6 inches high, 
bearing clusters of several flowers, each about 
’/V-inch across, of the most intense blue, which is 
rendered all the brighter by the white spot, or 
“ eye,” at the throat. It begins to flower in early 
spring, and in a moist locality will continue well 
into the summer. This promises well as a plant to 
carpet beneath shrubs, as its mat of foliage is pleas¬ 
ing, even when there are no flowers. Among plants 
usually classed as “ Alpine,” is one common in 
Western Europe on rocks and mountains by the sea. 
The Sea-Side Catchfly, 
which we had growing last summer, and were much 
pleased with. In making a collection of hardy herba¬ 
ceous flowers, and testing about everything that 
creeping forget-me-not. —(Omphalodes verna.) 
promises to be desirable, we have frequently come 
across eome very old plants, which, as we had not 
happenened to grow them before, had to us all the 
interest of novelties. This was the case with the 
Sea-side Catchfly, Silene maritima, a native of the 
sea coast of Great Britain, and one of the oldest of 
garden plants. Still, when its tufted mats of foliage, 
were studded all over with little white flowers, it 
was just as pleasing as if it were the latest introduc¬ 
tion from some far country recently for the first 
time explored. Wishing to know on what part of 
the British coast this grew, we consulted Bentham’s 
“Handbook of the British Flora,” and found that 
he regarded it as merely a sea-side form of the 
Bladder Campion, Silene inflata, a plant found in 
New England and New York to Pennsylvania, as an 
introd uced weed. The habit and 
general appearance of our garden 
S. maritima, is so unlike that of 
of S. inflata, that we were sur¬ 
prised to see it thus disposed of, 
and looking to see what other 
botanists had done with it, we 
found that while some agree with 
Bcntham, others, and among 
them Hooker, regard the sea-side 
plant as a distinct species. So far 
as garden qualities go, the two 
plants are abundantly unlike. 
The Sea-side Catchfly forms dense 
turf-like masses of glaucous foli¬ 
age from among which arise the 
stems bearing one to four pure 
white flowers; the calyx is in¬ 
flated or bladdery, and the petals 
deeply notched in the middle, 
each with a large scale, and these 
scales together form a crown at 
the throat of the flower. The en¬ 
graving, of the natural size, gives 
an idea of the flower, but does 
not show the mass of foliage. It 
is one of those accommodating 
plants that will grow almost any¬ 
where, and is always pleasing for 
its neatness,and the abundance of 
its bright white flowers, which 
bloom nearly all summer. For 
materials to make engravings of these plants, we 
are indebted to Messrs. Woolson & Co., Passaic, 
N. J., who make a specialty of Hardy Herbaceous 
and Alpine plants. The illustration of Anemone 
fulgens ia from a plant forced for the purpose, show¬ 
ing that it will be useful for greenhouse or win¬ 
dow culture. The same is true of Omphalodes 
sea catchfly. —(Silene maritima.) 
