Bulletin - Fall 1979 - North American Rock Garden Society

after shearing. Shape them to matchtheir nearby companion rocks.Several dwarf Japanese Hollies (Ilexcrenata) are of interest. Two relativelynew forms look and feel as if carvedfrom stone. The male is 'Green Dragon',the female 'Dwarf Pagoda', the lattermore compact, both growing less thanfour inches a year. The I.e. 'Helleri'selection called 'Witch's Broom' hasbeen a disappointment, growing morevigorously and upright for me thanits parent. The yellow foliaged formof I.e. 'Helleri' provides a nice touchof winter color for those who likeyellow, although I prefer the dwarfgold Thread-leaf Cypress for pure gold.Pittosporum 'Wheeler's Dwarf makesa shining mound of bright green inshade. Abelia 'Edward Goucher', whiledwarf, needs periodic shearing to maintaincompactness. One of the best plantsfor shade is Sweet Box (Sarcococca),and its winter bloom is pleasantlyfragrant. Pieris japonica 'Pygmaea' isdelightfully miniature in all aspects;P.j. 'Bisbee's Dwarf, with reducedleaves, has a healthy pink winter color;P.j. 'Wada' is slower growing and morecompact than the species, has pinkblooms and pink winter leaves.Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Rotundifolius'with one-inch rounded leaves,and the even dwarfer 0. delavayi withholly-like leaves are both collectables.0. heterphyllus 'Variegatus' has crispwhite-margined foliage.Euonymus fortunei 'Minima' ('Kewensis')is a common landscape shrub,appearing box-like with tiny leaves. Itis most suitable for the rock garden.Rosmarinus officinalis 'Lockwood deForest' is a charming, twisted dwarfevergreen shrub, peppered in fall andwinter with stars of bright blue.Serissa foetida (Popcorn Plant),usually considered a houseplant, makesa stout-stemmed treelet in local gardens.The double-flowering form is morecompact than the species and isevergreen in normal winters. The tinyleavedHokkaido Elm, an Ulmus parvijoliaselection, is almost evergreen,shedding its mantle for a brief periodin late winter. With a growth ratesimilar to that of Kingville Box, itmakes a billowing, mounded littleshrub.A rock garden in the city? Yes!it's a natural.ALPINE NEW YORKCITYDR. ALAN NATHANSBronx, New YorkDr. Nathans is a retired biology andphysiography teacher of circa fortyyears. Currently he is a dedicated alpinegardener and an inveterate travelerseeking why a plant grows where itgrows — especially saxicole. flora.My active interest in rock gardensbegan in July 1972 while I was ona tour of the European continent. Ata rest stop near a peak in SwitzerlandI saw an alpine version of our nativebull thistle explosively thrusting a doublefloral head through the snow. Almostsimultaneously it was envelopedby a swarm of tiny insects from outof nowhere, a flower-to-fruit cycleerupting in a few minutes (or seeminglyso)!This display of dynamism had a pro-168