156 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ JlTLY, 
S. ocymoides is a trailing plant of great beauty, and which, when growing 
freely, presents a cloud-like appearance of delicate rose-tinted flowers, produced 
in succession throughout the greater part of the summer. A well-established 
plant will, from a somewhat woody root-stock, produce a suflicient growth to 
cover square yards of surface, and nowhere is it more at home than when 
rambling over and festooning the facings of an old root or a combination of roots. 
As a rule, I am not a great admirer of such combinations, for which I 
presume the most appropriate title would be Eooteries, but there are conditions 
in which they may be used with advantage, and like the skeleton, their beauty 
will much depend on the taste and judgment exercised in placing appropriate 
materials at Nature’s command wherewith to clothe them. The materials 
provided, the rest should be left to Nature ; and amongst these materials none 
will be found more appropriate than this species of Saponaria. One essential 
point is that the position should be tolerably well exposed to the sun. Asso¬ 
ciated with it, I might suggest some of our lovely Clematises, now a numerous 
family, all of which thrive best when allowed to ramble in natural disorder; 
a few of the wild Foxgloves, or better still, some of the more improved garden 
forms interspersed, will add not only floral beauty to such a group, but give it a 
picturesque character, such as a few towering Lombardy poplars or lofty pines 
give to the landscape. To complete the picture, let the grass-line rising towards 
the base of the roots be crowned on its irregular undulating surface with a 
combination of the wild Bugle, Ajuga reptans^ or better still, its alpine form, 
whose flowers are of a blue almost rivalling cobalt; and the Lysimachia nemorum^ 
or Wood Money-wort, whose simple yellow flowers and fresh green foliage 
would add a beauty to such a group, such as could be obtained from few exotics. 
A plant or two of common wild Honeysuckle would add its fragrance as well as 
its beauty to the scene. With such garniture, the rootery, too often an eye-sore, 
would be metamorphised into a “ thing of beauty and a joy for ever,” and 
amongst all the plants that combine to form the picture, our Saponaria ocymoides 
would be second to none. 
S. ocymoides var. major is a decidedly superior form, the flowers being larger 
and more perfect in outline ; it originated in Scotland, and is, I presume, a seed¬ 
ling variation. Whether it possesses the constitutional vigour of the old species I 
cannot say from experience, as I have only had it under pot-culture, but I see no 
reason why it should not. 
S. ccespiiosa is a most appropriate name, given on account of the tufty com¬ 
pact growth of the plant, to a rock-loving subject, a native of the Pyrenees. In 
size of bloom and general appearance it is a very close rival of the lovely Alpine 
Pink (Dianthiis alpinus'). This plant forms a thick, woody root-stock, develop¬ 
ing from its summit a number of short prostrate branches clothed with almost 
linear leaves. The flowers are pink, and nearly an inch in diameter. Its true 
home is in the crevices of the rocks, where it will live for years. It enjoys and 
thrives well in a dry locality, being under those its natural conditions perfectly 
