The Foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia)

The Foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia) is one of the best of town plants, where it not only looks healthy and happy, but rapidly increases and is by no means difficult to please in the matter of soil; which also may be said of Francoa sonchifolia and F. ramosa. Heu-chera sanguinea is also valuable for planting in smoky localities, although H. brizoides gra-cillima does better. With the exception of Gentiana lutea and G. asclepiadea none of the Gentians have been found suitable for town planting. Both these species have stood for ten years in a London garden. Erinus alpinus does fairly well and reproduces itself freely from seed on a dry earth wall, but the Winter fogs kill it off in quantity. Scabiosa caucasica alba has flowered freely in a town garden for the past seven years, and, though it does not increase, yet the annual growth is satisfactory. Of Sedums the common Stonecrop (Sedum acre) is useful for covering patches of the rock garden, while S. glaucum may also be relied upon as a fairly satisfactory plant when used in smoky localities.

Sedum rhodiola is a capital plant for smoky localities, where it gains in strength each year and flowers profusely. Two kinds of Thrift (Ar-meria) do well, the showiest being A. Cepha-lotes rubra, which sends its bright pink flowers well above the tufted green foliage. Both it and A. vulgaris alba are excellent town plants and show off to good advantage in the rock garden when planted in clumps. Of the Meadow Rue (Thalictrum), two species thrive in a fairly satisfactory way-indeed, have done well for several years past: they are T. alpinum, a neat and very desirable plant for the rock garden, and T. adian-tifolium. Trollius asiaticus fl. pl. is another plant of dwarf growth that cheers us annually with its heads of double golden flowers, and has survived for many years in a town garden. All the Coltsfoots (Tussilago) do well, but particularly T. alpina and the Winter Heliotrope (T. fragrans). Valeriana montana, too, has done well and increases in quantity, the heads of bright pinky flowers being freely produced. Several species of Verbascum do uncommonly well in a town atmosphere, perhaps the best being V. olympicum, with its showy and irregularly produced yellow flowers, and V. phoeniceum.

The Periwinkles

The Periwinkles, when established, thrive well in smoky localities, particularly when planted beneath trees on rockwork. Yuccas are capital plants for the rock garden, where they succeed well, even in the very midst of dust and smoke. Plumbago Larpentce has few equals for withstanding the deleterious effects of the most impure of town atmospheres, and towards Autumn is one of the brightest foliaged plants of the rock garden. Two species of Geranium - G. sanguineum and G. cinereum - are peculiarly suited for withstanding soot, smoke, and fog, and have not only charmed us with their wealth of flowers, but increased in size and strength. A dwarf Thorn (Cratcegus iner-mis compacta), barely 15 in. high, though nearly twenty years old, and Cotoneaster ad-pressa, are excellent low-growing shrubs for the smoky garden. The pretty white flowered Iberis correcefolla is a charming town plant and when established in masses is particularly effective. Euonymus radicans kewensis has become quite established and seems to do well as a town plant, and, being of procumbent growth, is admirably suited for the rock garden. Few plants are, however, better suited for growing in the most smoke-infested parts of London than the Moneywort or Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia Nummiliaria).

In many parts of the East End, where filth and smoke are the order of the day, this pretty plant may be seen thriving to perfection - in fact, it may be described as peculiarly suitable for such situations. Whether as a window plant or in the open ground, it never fails to cheer one by its rich green foliage and wealth of golden yellow flowers. Roses on the whole are not very suitable for the town garden, though several of the dwarf Chinese kinds have done remarkably well on a rockwork in the heart of London for the past seven years. Rosa Wichuriana is excellent for a stony bank and would appear to be little affected by the soot and other impurities of the town atmosphere, while the beautiful Griiss an Teplitz has perhaps no equal for smoky localities. The following roses are to be recommended: - Augustine Guinoisseau, Caroline Testout, Captain Hayward, Dupuy Jamain, Frau Karl Druschki, Grace Darling, Gruss an Teplitz, Killarney, Madame Abel Chatenay, Margaret Dickson, Mrs. John Laing, Mrs. W. J. Grant, Mrs. Sharman-Crawford, Tom Wood, Jeannie Dickson.

Anemone pennsylvanica and A. rivularis do fairly well - indeed, the former has been established for many years, while the latter produces its big white flowers in profusion. The Scillas all do well, and particularly so the species of Allium, while Narcissus are not to be despised. Out of a large number of Alpine and rock plants that I have experimented with, the above are the most suitable and reliable for town gardening, especially in London. There are others, however, that do well for a few years, but gradually become less in size and floriferousness and ultimately die out altogether. By procuring strong, well-rooted specimens and planting these in suitable soil, half the victory in getting rock and Alpine plants to become established in town and city gardens is accomplished.