New Conceptions of a Rock Garden

Abstract

ENGLISH gardens have been enriched with many beautiful herbaceous plants from South Africa, but the succulent and xerophytic species of that region are not yet common in England. The rockery which is being made in Johannesburg for the Empire Exhibition of September, 1936-January, 1937 should provide an adequate portrayal of South Africa's wonderful endowments in these sections of its flora. Prof. John Phillips, professor of botany in the University of the Witwatersrand, describes the rockery in the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society of August, 1936. It is planned upon a scale which is somewhat gigantic when judged from most English standards. Summits are broken with plantings of Aloe Marloihii, A. dichotoma, and other species, whilst the most striking effects are produced by the mesembryanthemums, the euphorbias, members of the genus Encephalartos, the pelargoniums, and by Aster capensis, Dimorphotheca Ecklonis and Euryops athanasia. A stream, rushing from the rock garden into the lake below, affords opportunity for the planting of indigenous hygrophilous plants, and lawns of Cynodon sp. and Pennisetum clandestinum have been laid. Large woody shrubs, and even small trees, such as Chilianthus arboreus, Rhus lancea, Dombeya rotundifolia, Cussonia spicata, Tecomaria capensis, Plumbago capensis, and other species, are employed for certain effects. Mr. Frank Frith, an expert on succulents, is supervising the making of the rockery.