November 19 ; 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD , 
937 
Crawley and District Gardeners’ Mutual 
Improvement Association. 
Alpine Plant?, Rock Gardens, etc. 
At their last meeting held October 26th, in the British 
Schools, Cra.wley, Mr. H. Hemsley (of Messrs. J- Cheal and 
Sons, Lo'wfield Nurseries) gave a veiy interesting and instruc¬ 
tive lecture on “ Alpine Plants, Rock Gardens, etc.,” illustrated 
by means of seventy lantern slides, 'taken, at home and in 
Switzerland. Mr. J. A. Nix, the president of the association, 
introduced Mr. Hems ley, thei secretary, t-o> whom, he said, the 
association owed it® existence!. 
The lecturer pointed out. the usefulness and the high posi¬ 
tion which these plants occupy in, the gardening world, and 
said there werei none which answered ®o many purposes a® these. 
With a, little foresight we need not be without some in bloom 
all thei year round, and which might be touched and gathered, 
as well as looked at and admired. How charming and delight¬ 
ful is a, well-constructed and well-arranged rook garden ; what 
interest and pleasure it affords to the owner and to the lover cf 
Nature. In, alpine gardens we find some of the brightest and 
most charming gems of the floral world, which, besides clothing 
mother earth in. beauty and splendour, transformed what very 
often would be barren, stony wildernesses into places) of in¬ 
tense interest and admiration. 
There was no, doubt,, said thei lecturer, that the' many thou¬ 
sands of visitors to Switzerland and other mountainous regions 
were chiefly attracted by these dwarf and sturdy flowers of 
such peculiar shapes and form®, but for which the Alps would 
nob possess so great an, allurement to' SO' many travellers 1 . 
What, a, feast it, was to the lovers of flowers to see these great 
and majestic rocks covered in all their grandeur by these 1 
small attractive plants with their pure and brilliant, flowers. 
No wonder that they hold the visitor spellbound in admiration, 
and created a, desire to see and to know more of them. What 
a sight when, for instance, 'the sun shone forth in all his 
brilliancy, and one' was brought face to. face with thousands of 
blooms of such plants a® Gentians, Primulas, Campanulas', and 
many others too numerous to mention; such a 'spectacle as 
this was never to be forgotten. One might ask how it was 
that the'Se plant® grew so luxuriantly and bloomed to. such 
perfection as these? It was simply because Nature under¬ 
stood their requirements; they were not coddled by all manner 
of man’s invention, hut were provided with their needs, and 
were left, to take care' of themselves amid all the' fierce storms 
and perils of the Alps. 
The lecturer proceeded to describe the climate of the coun¬ 
tries where such plants' abound, and to show that rockeries 
with alpine plants can be formed and kept in, England with 
great success. Rockeries and rock garden® were fast increas¬ 
ing in this country, and were' something like an epidemic, in 
the sense that person® who grow a few of these plants soon 
added 'to the number, and were not fully satisfied till they 
possessed a line' collection, which was easy of accomplishment. 
He went on to state that in, selecting a site' for a, rock garden 
choosie one where, if possible, we would come to. it all of 
a sudden ; this would have a, very telling effect. He also sug¬ 
gested to try and avoid having it, under trees a® much as 
possible, as in. such a, case a® that the plants; generally did nob 
thrive, on account, of 'being in a, draughty position, thereby 
getting cut about, by thei wind. In, selecting a, position, we 
ought to, try and select one fully exposed to the light and air ; 
with such a position a® this we would he able, to find a 'suitable 
aspect for each individual plant, and they would be found to 
thrive and pay for all labour and expense entailed. 
Having touched on the most suitable kinds of stone, such a® 
limestone, tufa,, sandstone, etc., adapted for rock gardens, he 
proceeded to say that, in the general formation, Naturei should 
be copied as closely asi possible, the general outline, situation, 
aspect, drainage,, and other minor points—though none, the 
less important—taken into consideration. Before commenc¬ 
ing operations fix asi well -a® you possibly can as to what kind 
cf a structure you desire, to have, and then, set to work to 
accomplish the same, commencing by putting in plenty of small 
stones and clappings for drainage, asi this is one of the most 
essential points to be considered in rook construction, as he 
believed that more rock plant® perished through want, of proper 
drainage than, for any other reason. To the above add a 
layer of loam and leaf mould, after which begin, to lay the 
large stones, taking care to so lay them that the water will 
run into' the' main structure' when finished, and so be helpful 
in keeping the plants moist. It is best, to fill the crevice® w i t h 
a good mixture of loam, peat, leaf-mould, and small stones 
or ichipping®, and if a, little sand can be used so much the 
better. On putting this in, 'take a stick and ram it firm, so 
that there' will he no fear of your Structure giving way in after 
days. In proceeding, lay the stones so as to make nice large 
pockets, so that when, you come to, plant, you will be able to 
ma,s® several plants of one kind together, as by .so. doing they 
will soon make, a grand display and also have a good effect. 
Sedum spectabile ateopurpureum. (Seep. 9 1.) 
Then we also ought to consider the projecting rocks which 
should be formed here and there, and given, a. prominent posi¬ 
tion, to, receive such plants' as Saxifragas—-the encrusted varie¬ 
ties'—Sempeirvivums, Sileu.es, etc., which are so well adapted 
for such positions, and need not be disturbed for many years 
t'O come. 
The' lecturer then gave names of the most suitable plants 
of small-growing conifer®, evergreen®, and certain classes of 
shrubs, which we cannot very well do without to, form a winter 
clothing with. Hei then enumerated the best and most useful 
kinds of “ oarpetersi ” which work in conjunction with the 
forenameid tree®', etc. Most of these form, “cushion®,” and 
yield complete ims'ses of differeut-hued flowers, besides car¬ 
peting the rocks with evergreen foliage. He also, included a 
list of those subject® suited best for bold masse®,. which always 
have their desired effect when, seen growing to thei best of 
advantage in the rock garden. Next was included names oi' 
plants for moist and shady, position®, as also the most valu¬ 
able plant® for wall gardening, which is to be seen very much 
in evidence in some of our larger gardens at the present time. 
