Bulletin - Fall 1979 - North American Rock Garden Society

suggested I add even more gravel andI did. It seems that the plants withstandour hot, muggy summers if they sprawlon a rocky surface, producing theirown shade to cover their root systems.The best of the scree plants are Armeriajuniperifolia in all its varieties,Asperula lilacijlora (which flowers allsummer until frost), Draba aizoides,D. rigida, Dianthus 'Mars' (a blood-reddouble), Lewisia cotyledon in severalforms, Asperula gussonei, Silene quadridentata.,Dianthus alpinus, Aquilegiabertolonii, Saponaria caespitosa, S.pumilio and S. x 'Olivana', not to mentionfive varieties of dryas and twovarieties of edraianthus. Oddly, severalE. pumilio have failed to make itthrough the summer here, while theyhave succeeded in another Chicago areascree. All in all, it is the scree thatproduces the healthiest plants and thebest performers in this Chicago garden.ALPINE HARTFORDE. LE GEYT BAILEYHartford, ConnecticutRock gardening in the city on ahundred square feet presents problemsof adjustment which you would nothave to make if you gardened on anacre or two. For example: the ninefeet between my house and theneighbor's driveway was ideal for ashady garden, but the household fuelhose had to be dragged through thisarea to the intake pipe at the backof the house. What to do?I dug a trench nine inches deep andthe width of a wheelbarrow from thestreet to the back of the house. Threerailroad ties and some flat rocks formedraised beds on either side of the trenchto accommodate the soil I had dugout. I filled the trench with leaf-moldand gravel. To my surprise, within afew years seedlings of Erinus alpinus,Viola labradorica, Hutchinsia alpina,and Draba aizoides began to appearin the gravel path. My greatest pleasurewas the appearance of many Lysimachiajaponica minutissimaseedlings in the gravel. The path, builtoriginally to accommodate the oilmanand his hose, has become an additionalgrowing area I did not expect.Not having a wall or crevice facingeast or north where I could grow lewisiasin a vertical position, I sank concreteblocks in a sunny position. Iput leaf-mold in the bottom of the holesand filled them with gravel well uparound the plants and edges of theblocks. I feed the plants with fish emulsionand thev grow beautifully.Mrs. Herbert Sheppard of Burlington Rd., Harwinton, Conn. 06791would like to buy or swap color forms of Asclepias tuberosa.Ill