Why are some alpine plants difficult to grow in cultivation?
The vast majority of alpine plants are easy to grow in any reasonably good well-drained garden soil with adequate humus; and ask for nothing more than to be placed in an open sunny position, and not have to compete with pernicious weeds. Those that are considered difficult are so, for a variety of different reasons. For many months of the year the plants that grow at high altitudes above the treeline are covered by a deep blanket of snow which keeps them dry and at a constant low temperature, but not as low as the air temperature above the snow. They are also protected from cold bitter winds. When spring arrives and the snow melts these plants receive an abundance of moisture, and they soon put on rapid growth. Many have a deep tap-root system that provides a strong anchorage in the often shifting and moving scree; so even if there is a land-slide which decapitates the plant, it often has the ability to put up new growth from the root, much as a dandelion does. Because the neck of thes
