August 4, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
97 
we call them ?—causes local swellings, they mav not have an un¬ 
healthy effect upon a plant, affecting its sap generally. So far as 
our investigations have gone there seems to be no proof that these 
larvae affect the vitality to any extent ; the most they are likely to 
do, even if numerous, would be to somewhat retard growth. 
. Som e have wondered what is the life of these flies during the 
winter months. Evidently the larvae have then quitted the plants, 
and either pass some months as pupae on or near the surface of the 
earth, or hybernate in the winged state, hiding themselves amongst 
evergreens, in nooks and crannies, wherever they can find shelter 
from the storms of winter.— Entomologist. 
ROCK GARDENS. 
{Continued from page 374, last vol.'). 
Now that the hurry, scurry, the bustle and confusion (not of 
the General Election) of the Rose Exhibition season is over, and 
once more amateurs and professionals have put aside their boxes 
and tubes and all the paraphernalia of their contests, and can now 
discuss their achievements, “ can shoulder their crutch and tell how 
deeds were done,” I may resume these short notes on the Rock 
Garden. Thanks to a newly developed taste, at many of the Rose 
Shows one was allowed to think that there were other flowers in 
the world besides the Queen, for at many of the Exhibitions— 
Hitchin, Hereford, Chester, &c., prizes were offered locally for 
collections of herbaceous plants. It is too late to include alpines, 
and indeed if they were admitted their delicate beauty would be 
overpowered by the more brilliant flowers from the herbaceous 
garden, but they quickened one’s tastes and gave many a useful 
lesson. The most striking plant that I have seen was a spike of 
Eremurus Bungei, exhibited by the Rev. P. Page Roberts at 
Chester. It was a thing of beauty, and, next to E. himalaicus, the 
finest I have seen. 
In resuming these notes I hope my readers will distinctly 
understand two things—First, that I do not presume to speak with 
any degree of authority. As I have frequently said, I am no botanist, 
and therefore I have arrived at what I know of the subject through 
my own experience, and especially through my own failures. The 
other is, that my rockery is really a very small affair. Persons 
might imagine otherwise from the number of plants I mention ; 
but it is remarkable what a number of things one can grow of these 
dwarf Alpines. I am contented to grow one specimen of a plant 
where perhaps others would grow a dozen, and though I lose in 
effect, yet I gain by being able to grow a good many things I must 
otherwise discard. And now to resume. 
Myosotis.—The dwarf alpine varieties of the Forget me-not 
are very beautiful, but they have an unfortunate tendency under 
cultivation to lose their dwarf character, to become more gross, 
and under the influence of good feeding to disappoint the grower, 
who views them then with the same disgust that the stud groom 
does the little bey he thought would make a capital jockey, but 
who, under the.influence of good living, has spread out and utterly 
disappointed him. So I have, after trying them several times, 
concluded it is no use striving to fight against it, have given them 
up, and am now contented to let dissitiflora reign supreme 
without fear of rivalry. 
Lithospermum prostratum is one of those plants about which I 
feel somewhat ashamed. I have seen it so luxuriant in many 
places, and I have been so frequently told that it is a most easy 
plant to grow that to be obliged to confess failure is very humi¬ 
liating ; yet so it has been with me. For years I have tried it, 
have put it in all aspects and in soil which I was told was most 
suitable for it, yet it has absolutely refused to make itself at home 
with me ; in some cases dying outright, in others dragging out a 
miserable existence. I am again giving it another place, and hope 
it may succeed. This sort of thing has happened to me with other 
plants, and then without any apparent reason a plant has asserted 
itself, and thiven just as well as it had failed before. Of the 
beauty of this low-growing alpine shrub with its brilliant blue 
flowers there can hardly be a question, and as I have seen it in 
some places it formed a most delightful object. 
Meconopsis cambrica, the yellow Welsh Poppy, very similar in 
appearance to the Iceland Poppy, is said to like shade. I have 
found it indifferent as to position, soil, or anything else, seeding 
itself freely, and coming up in all sorts of places, both in the 
rockery and in the border, so that one has to be very careful that 
it does not interfere with other plants. 
Nierembergia rivularis, another plant with which I have not 
been successful, and yet I am told most easily grown, so I hope to 
give it another trial. It is a dwarf trailing plant with white 
flowers, and, as its name implies, likes a damp place. 
(Enothera marginata, a very beautiful and sweet-scented 
flower. The individual flowers are large, and with a most delicate 
fragrance, alas ! only lasting one evening; but they are produced 
abundantly, and so the bloom continues for some time. It has a 
curious way of rambling under ground, and appearing in quite a 
different place to that in which it was planted, and so perhaps it is 
more suited for the border than for the rockery. I have a plant of 
it in my herbaceous border. I planted it on one side of the walk, 
and it has now travelled over underneath the walk to the opposite 
border where it is flourishing most vigorously. I shall be curious 
to watch its roving propensity. 
Omphalodes Luciliae.—A dwarf alpine plant with flowers of 
the most lovely shade of soft blue. It is not a very easy plant to 
grow, nor does it with me increase in size very much, while to 
propagate it by division of the root seems about hopeless, unlike 
the more common species Omphalodes verna ; few flowers come 
out on each truss at a time, but their lovely shades of colour makes 
up for any deficiency in this respect. 
Onosma taurica.—-A very beautiful plant with large racemes of 
bright yellow drooping flowers, slightly fragrant. It is very showy 
and worthy of every care. I have not given any protection to mine 
during the last two winters, and it has succeeded in fairly good 
condition.. It likes a dry situation, and I daresay would like a 
covering in winter to protect it from the heavy rain and snow. 
Perhaps one of the most suitable places for it is a dry sloping bank. 
Although perhaps sometimes overrated it is a most desirable plant, 
and is sure to attract notice on the rockery. 
Papaver nudicaule, the charming Iceland Poppy, is deserving 
of a place anywhere and everywhere. I think, perhaps, except on 
large rockeries, it is better to have it as a border plant. The three 
shades, of colour, orange, yellow, and white, are exceedingly pure 
and bright, the orange one, sometimes called miniatum, is especi¬ 
ally bright, and when the three colours are combined in a vase 
they make an exceedingly pretty decoration, and they have none of 
the disagreeable odour which makes some kinds of Poppies so 
objectionable in a room. 
Plumbago Larpentae, a late growing and late blooming Alpine 
plant, with flowers of a deep mazarine blue. The foliage also is 
very pretty, the young shoots being of a dark olive colour. While 
perfectly hardy, it very often suffers from an early autumn frost. 
Primulas.—Of this extensive and beautiful family there are many 
which are of easy, and some apparently of difficult culture. Especi¬ 
ally is this true of the genuine alpine species. I suppose most 
persons have had this experience with regard to such kinds as 
minima and Allioni, while the Himalayan species are moi’e robust, 
so much so that some of them can be hardly considered alpines. 
Primula farinosa is an exquisite little Primrose, a native of 
some of the northern parts of our islands, and abundant through¬ 
out the mountainous regions of Europe. The flowers are small, but 
produced in dense clusters of a rosy pink colour. 
Primula scotica, allied to the above, and also a native plant, is 
very pretty ; but I have found difficult to grow. It ought to be 
grown amongst grass, but then the grass would require to be kept 
quite closely cut or it would soon overpower it. 
Primula marginata is sometimes confused with P. Auricula 
marginata, both having yellow flowers, and both being desirable 
plants for the rockery. By some the latter is supposed to be the 
progenitor of our beautiful florist Auriculas. 
Primula nivalis.—A very beautiful species with pure white 
flowers, and a plant that should be grown in good sized clumps, 
when in the early spring it is a very pleasing object. 
Primula Reidi.—A charming species with bold scarlet flowers, 
but its claims to a position on the hardy rockery has yet to be 
established, some considering it too tender, and others regarding it 
as a biennial. 
Primula rosea.—This, and especially the variety grandiflora, is 
amongst the most beautiful and highly coloured of the family. It 
requires a somewhat shady place, where it grows freely. The 
flowers are of a very deep rose colour. I have found it better after 
a few years to break up the plant, and replant the separate crowns, 
as it is apt to become hard, and does not then bloom so freely. 
Puschkinia scilloides.—A charming bulb, allied to Scilla, having 
a very neat habit and beautiful blue flowers. It is one of those 
plants of which slugs are especially fond, and it requires great 
diligence in keeping it from them. I have surrounded my plants 
with a zinc collar, and yet withal that have had to search for the 
marauders at night, finding them literally in dozens. They seem to 
be so eager for it that they attack the plants earlier in the evening, 
and so are more readily captured. 
Ramondia pyrenaica one of the most pleasing of Alpine plants 
coming from the Pyrenees, where it grows on the face of the rocks 
in positions entirely excluded from the rays of the sun, and this 
position must be imitated. I have seen this done most successfully 
at St. Albans Court near Wingham, where large masses of red 
sandstone had been placed in a position facing the north and 
holes were bored in the face of them in which the Ramondias were 
