30 
House & Garden 
If the rock garden is of any size, provision should he made for a suitably informal path. Here the true 
mountain plants have been combined with some of the cultivated ones from loioer altitudes, such as lily- 
of-the-valley and dwarf iris 
Phlox subulata. loto growing and, dense in 
habit, is well suited to use among the 
rocks in the mountain garden 
T here is always a certain glamor and 
fascination about mountain plants. 
Pronounce the word “Edelweiss” and you 
kindle with its associations. Some romance 
attaches to the tiny growth, bright and per¬ 
sistent beyond the pines, beyond the junipers 
even, on the treeless stretches of undulat¬ 
ing mountain fields. 
At these altitudes the spring spreads a 
flowery carpet of Gentiana, Auricula, Cam¬ 
panula, Ranunculus, Caryophyllum, Arte¬ 
misia, Edelweiss, Valeriana and many 
others. Even the boulders are richly cov¬ 
ered with blue, yellow, white and purple 
saxifrage. In some places are found the 
MOUNTAIN GARDENS 
IN LOWLAND SITES 
DR. E . BADE 
yellow-tipped mountain willows and the 
starry blossoms of dwarf azaleas and 
silenes show amongst dark foliage. 
To bring these mountain plants from 
their fastnesses to the confines of a garden 
is a task of rich rewards, though by no 
means an entirely easy one. 
Mountain Characteristics 
Unusual atmospheric conditions—strong, 
intense light; thin, clear air; rapid changes 
in moisture—combine with the evaporation 
from the ])lants themselves to create a form 
of vegetation peculiar to the highlands. The 
shoots of the shrubs are stunted and the 
leaves remain small. The growth is trim 
and short, whether the plants grow in a 
velvety expanse over the fields, or cling in 
thick little clumps to the boulders. In con¬ 
trast to the stems from which they grow, 
the flowers are of great size and beauty, 
and lend a cheeriness scarcely expected in 
the grandeur of their surroundings. 
With the passing of winter from the 
mountains come warm days, short nights 
Of a different, more grass-like effect is 
Armeria. the well-known and hardy thrift 
or sea gilliftotver 
and many hours of sunshine. The air is 
very dry and there is plenty of light, but 
the mountain plants suffer severely from 
storms. There is sufficient food-sap, and 
often a nourishing soil rich in loose salts. 
The sudden changes of temperature hinder 
the upward growth of the plants, and in¬ 
cidentally save them from windbreakage 
and evaporating. 
So hardy are the mountain flora that they 
are found even in regions of eternal snow, 
where they spring up when the warm rays 
of the summer sun have melted the lighter 
drifts of snow. Driving their roots into the 
crumbling cracks and crannies of the stones. 
