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Alpine Plants Are Small:
•are plant that was thought only to grow at the cliff's edge).
Because most alpine plants are small in stature, Budd was able to ;row some 600 species of unusual and often rare alpines (starting most )f the plants from seed) in an area of about 50 by 50 feet. And by using :he natural terrain of his sloped back yard, and a bulldozer hired for me day, he created the most fitting environment without resorting to mporting rocks.
I learned much from his garden: how to get the correct soil mix, :he best way to use rocks with the least effort, how many societies :here were in the world that had seed exchanges, and a true apprecia.
Two fine plants for an alpine garden are pictured on the opposite page: an alpine poppy in bloom, its satiny petals in direct contrast to the almost black leaves of the cultivar 'Arabicus' belonging to the genus Ophiopogon.The alpine poppy (Papaver nudicaule, P. alpinum, or P. Burseri) is one of those flowers that gives joy wherever it grows. It will easily self-sow without becoming a pest. The taproot is long so it does not transplant with ease. Blossoms are white, orange, yellow, or orange-red and have a sweet fragrance. Every alpine garden should have a few phlox, and Phlox subulata 'Sneewichen', 3 by 9 inches, is one of the best. While many of its cousins have too-bright colors for a small garden, this one bears tiny, snow-white flowers. Picea glauca 'Echiniformis', 7 by 9 inches, is another dwarf conifer that makes a fine focal point—albeit a small one—in the alpine bed.
That title is not mine. It was penned by the English garden writer Reginald Farrer, a man who had a profound influence on gardeners of the Edwardian Era just before World War I and who did more to popularize alpine plants than any other. It is said that at elegant and sophisticated dinners where conversation usually dealt with gossip and scandal, everyone turned to talk of alpine wildflowers, drainage, and compost when Mr. Farrer walked into the room. Rock gardens were so popular it's as though the National Enquirer would suddenly devote its pages to planting vegetables instead of its usual fare.
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