THE GARDENING WORLD. 
677 
Saxifraga decipiens groenlandica. [.Maclaren and Sons. 
The Greenland Roekfoil 
C E^ 
October 19, 1907. 
rays are not florets as in a Chrysanthe¬ 
mum, but are really the outside bracts, 
which serve to protect the flowers in their 
early stages of growth, and afterwards to 
attract insects by their colour. They are 
as dry as chaff, having very little sub¬ 
stance, though they are alive while the 
flower is young. They serve to protect 
the flowers and afterwards the fruit. 
The plant is also highly useful for cut 
flower purposes, either in the fresh state 
or after they are dried. The process of 
drying is a very simple one, as it is 
merely necessary to tie them in small 
bunches and hang them up in some airy 
place where they will be exposed to wind, 
but not sunshine. Here the slender 
flower stalks will become dry and stiff in 
1 a straight position, so that they may be 
, afterwards used for everlastings in the 
v;inter time, and if protected from dust 
will keep fresh for an unlimited time. 
Some people even go to the trouble of 
getting bell-glasses so as to maintain the 
freshness and cleanliness of flowers of this 
: character. Needless to say, under this 
form of protection they would last several 
years. 
The plant is of the easiest cultivation, 
either in town or country gardens, as the 
flowers represented were grown in a Lon¬ 
don suburban garden. To give some idea 
of the rapidity of growth, it may be said 
that the seeds were sown towards the end 
of April in the open ground, and were in 
full bloom before the end of July. Soil 
of a light and rich character is suitable to 
this class of plant, but even heavy soils 
may readily be improved by means of sand 
and leaf mould, so as to render them por¬ 
ous. Such soils should, of course, be pre¬ 
pared some time in advance of sowing, 
and if the soil is light in character it 
should be dug in autumn or early winter 
and manured to give it time to settle be¬ 
fore April. Practically nothing is re¬ 
quired beyond thinning the plants if they 
have been sown too thickly, as they will 
then ramify, forming bushy specimens 
about 12 in. to 15 in. high, and require no 
staking. 
Seeds are readily procurable from any 
! seedsman, and as they cost little people 
take little trouble with the plant, but 
some time after it was introduced its cul¬ 
tivation was brought to great perfection, 
even in pots, and branched specimens of 
large size were the result. For ordinary 
garden decoration, however, or for cut 
flowers, quite ordinary treatment will 
suffice. If the intention is to dry them 
they should be cut when in perfection. 
The flowers naturally open in the course 
of drying and reveal the beautiful centre 
in the case of this particular variety. The 
ordinary form has no zone. There is also 
a white variety having the bracts whitq 
instead of rose. 
-- 
Flower Show Profits for Medical Charities. 
A number of horticultural societies in 
this country devote their profits to charit¬ 
able purposes, and in this connection 
honourable mention must be made of the 
Alveston and District H.S. They have 
just held another very successful flower 
show, and the profits — ^102 is. qd. — have 
been divided between various local medi¬ 
cal charities. Since the formation of the 
society 19 years ago no less than ^1,012 
3s. has been distributed in this way. 
Although not the dwarfest of the mossy 
Saxifrages or Rockfoils, this plant is 
amongst them. The barren leafy stems or 
stolons are very short, and then end up 
in a dense tuft of nearly similar leaves 
forming a dense green carpet. Usually 
the leaves at the end of the rosette are 
three-lobed, but in the early part of the 
season, when new growth is being made, 
many of the leaves are altogether undivi¬ 
ded. The flower stems are only about 
2 in. high, and terminate in a cluster of 
relatively large white flowers. 
The specimen illustrated was, of course, 
grown in a thumb pot, showing how little 
soil is really necessary to get an object of 
considerable beauty that may be used in 
cool conservatories or greenhouses in the 
spring if so desired. The proper place 
for the plant, however, is on the rockery, 
where it may be planted in a situation that 
will be fairly moist during the summer. 
This applies only to the southern counties, 
for in the north of England and in Scot¬ 
land, as well as Ireland, the rainfall is 
sufficient to enable this plant to be grown 
on practically any aspect upon the 
rockery if the soil is sufficiently deep, as 
it should always be for rock plants. 
Propagation is very easy, either in the 
cool northern part of Britain, or even in 
(Saxifraga decipiens groenlandica). 
the Midlands, where the rainfall is fairly 
good. All that is necessary is to pull the 
plant to pieces and dibble in each leafy 
shoot separately in lines and neat little 
plants will be formed in the course of the 
summer. These pieces may be put singly 
into pots immediately, and the pots 
plunged in sand or coal ashes to save 
watering during the summer. Should dry- 
weather prevail when they are newly put 
in, they should, of course, be watered 
until they'’ begin to hold their own. In 
the open ground watering is less neces¬ 
sary', except in the most droughty times. 
Even if they get partly dried up ’in sum¬ 
mer they will soon recover when the cool, 
moist, autumn weather sets in. 
-- 
Arctotis regalis. 
The ray's of this plant are pure white 
except at the base, where they' form a 
narro"" yellow zone. The anthers are 
purple. It is said to be a hy'brid between 
A. aureola and A. stoechadifolia, but the 
blooms are larger than either of these. 
Award of Merit by the R.H.S. on 3rd 
Sentember when shown by Sir Trevor 
Lawrence, Bart (gardener, Mr. W. Bain), 
Burford, Dorking. 
