IN A DUNEDIN ROCK GARDEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20638, 9 February 1929, Page 3

IN A DUNEDIN ROCK GARDEN.

■ Alpines which bloom in, the later summer are by no means too plentiful, and a large number of alpine enthusiasts are puzzled to. know what plants can bo employed to give colour from, say, February onwards. But now that we have so many plants available from all parts of the world, it is possible to render the rock garden bright with at least a certain amount of bloom almost all the year. Some consideration in planting in cool places will prolong the flowering of dwarf campanulas well into February, aud some of the C. carpatica varieties even later. There are soma plants that will bloom all the summer through, amongst the number bein* T Androsace lanuginosa, a gem of the .first water. If planted where it wijf fall over a large stone in full sun it well repays. the grower. The double red Helianthemum Mrs Earle is hardly ever out of flower, and Lithospermum, proatratum continues to display’its beautiful blue flowers as plentifully as it did four months ago: the variety Heavenly Blue, although in flower, is not so prolific. A plant I received under the title of Blue Bonnet, and which I am told is the national flower of Texas, is a wonderful bloomer, having started to flower last July and still going strong. It is only about inches high, and resembles a small lupin, with flowers of a lovely blue shade and white .centre. It may not be an alpine, but seems quite happy in the rock garden.

In close proximity to this plant is Ononis votundifolia, a shrubby plant from the European Alps, growing about 12 inches high. Its soft, pink flowers, which arc pea-shaped, blend well with the blue of the former plants. A very graceful plant is Asperula cynanchica, With pink gypsophila-like flowers: it looks best draping a la>-gc stone. Gypeophila repans rosea is a lovely plant if given the right position in full sunt Its flowers are larger than the white variety. Tunica eaxifraga rosea and its double variety also require full sun: the flowers of the latter are like miniature pink roses. Silone California, which bears large, solitary flowers of vivid scarlet, likes a warm, sheltered position ip gritty soij. It grows about six inches high, but the stems arc rather lax and are inclined to flop about. Dracocephalujn japonica has heads of handsome lavender blue flowers on stems about 12 inches high. It is rather uncommon, and resembles a salvia.

From February onwards for several weeks the evening primroses are seldom without flowers, although individual blooms arc very short-lived. There is a good contiguous supply always following on. Oenothera rosea mesicana, pink, 0. taraxacifolla, white and 0. grandiflora, yellow, are the three varieties in bloom this month. Gentiana Freyniana, if grown in a shady position .with plenty of mortar rubble, is a lovely plant, and its deep blue trumpets nestling in the green foliage make a pretty picture. The genus sedum includes many of the most attractive plants for the rock garden. One of the chief points in their favour is that they arc mostly evergreen, the foliage in many cases becoming beautifully tinted in the late summer and remaining so until fresh growth is made in. the spring. The best grey;