Nor so very long ago the gulf between those who
had rockeries and those who possessed an Alpine garden was almost as clear- cut as the division between coup / and commonalty. But now, When the private gardener is becoming very nearly as rare a species as the butler, the amateur is beginning to presume, gazing at his rock heaps, to feel a discontent with sprawling aubrietia
hybrids. A sign of the times, no doubt, but if it results in the disappearance of the traditional suburban rockery, then it will certainly be one up for the levelling process.
Here are four books to help the amateur be ambitious, and a feature of them all is a non-specialist approach of very real value even to the novice. In The Alpine Garden the author puts emphasis on the rudiments, drainage and layout, all of it made to seem moderately easy, with no suggestion of those madderfing complexities of procedure so dearly beloved of the professional expert. Mr. Walkir's treatment will whet a stirring interest, not swamp it. Also he keeps clearly before him the fact that the average enthusiast is not prepared to hand over a large portion of his income to the seed merchants. The book has excellent colour plates.
Alpine Gardening is more ambitious, beautifully illustrated, the emphasis here on design fqr the rock area, with sound dia- grams easily understood. The section 'Alpines plant by plant,' really does give the essential data on a species, the snags and the advantages, the problems of soil and climate.
Shrubs for the Rock Garden and Alpine House is the type of handsome volume on gardening which looks a shade over- powering' for the novice. But the author's text never hints at horticultural-show condescension, and amongst the innumerable fine plates there is a design for a simple propagating frame heated by a twenty-five-watt bulb. To most of us who have priced and considered the running costs of even a small electric soil-warming device this diagram will bring cheer and new hope.
The miniature daffodil is really more a subject for the old rockery than an Alpine garden. But it can still be kept out of the new design and yet made supplementary to it, possibly a feature of the approach areas. And in Miniature Daffodils Alec Gray has written a comprehensive little book which includes interesting sections on propagation from seed and hybridising. Some of the really dwarf daffodils would make most respectable neighbours for Alpines.
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