Saxifraga Oppositifolia

Saxifraga Oppositifolia - It is impossible to speak too highly of the beauties of this bright little mountain-plant, in color and in habit so distinct from others of its family. The moment the snow melts it glows into solid sheets of purplish-rose color. Of the several varieties, that known as splendens has flowers of far greater brilliancy, though slightly smaller and less abundant than those of the parent; in bud especially the color is almost carmine and most beautiful. This variety was found many years ago on the mountains of Scotland. S. o. major has flowers twice the size of the type, clear rose, inclining to cherry, and has less of a purple tinge. In S. o. pyrenaica the shoots are much stronger and the flowers larger than in other forms. A fine form is S. o. p. maxima, with lovely light rose blossoms as large as a shilling; while S. o. alba has white flowers, in pleasing contrast to other varieties. Perhaps the best form of all is a new seedling, W. A. Clark, with abundant rosy flowers of a very bright shade. S. Rudolphiana has a more spreading habit of growth, and its rosy-purple flowers are sometimes borne singly and sometimes (though rarely) in pairs. It is allied to S. biflora and S. Kochii, the last with rosy-purple flowers in twos and fours at the tips of the shoots. The foliage of S. retusa is firm and compact, with small flowers borne in clusters at the tips of erect stalks; their narrow petals are usually a pale rose color, sometimes brighter. It blooms rather later than the forms of S. oppositifolia. S. Wulfeniana is closely allied to S. retusa. S. oppositifolia and its varieties succeed in deep, open, rich, loamy soil, and are finest in a fissure or on a ledge of the rock garden, where the roots can ramble backwards or down to any depth. For the soil, a rich light loam mixed with fragments of limestone or grit, small fragments of any rock, and a little river sand will do. These plants must have sunshine, for though they will grow in the shade, they will not flower freely.

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