Scientists define alpines as plants that grow on high mountains above the tree line - the line that marks the upper limit of tree growth. The alpine environment is generally cold and windy with free-draining soil that is starved of nutrients; plants have evolved to cope with these conditions. A true alpine plant has internal mechanisms that enable it to deal with severe frost, it grows low to the ground to avoid being destroyed by wind, and its roots grow profusely to search out the limited supplies of food and nutrients.
Gardeners often try to replicate alpine conditions by designing a 'rockery' or 'rock garden' in which to grow their alpines. Conditions are never as inhospitable in a rockery as they are in a true alpine area but the plants are usually grateful for this and they often respond by growing better than they do in the wild.
Many plants are hardy, short and slow growing without being true alpines but gardeners are happy to group these together with alpines and let them slip into the rockery 'under the radar'.
The small size of alpines is part of their intrinsic charm and it also means that a large collection can be grown in a small area. This is never more obvious than in container gardening where it is quite possible to feature a dozen or more individual plants in a fraction of a square metre.
In the quizzes that follow we have included alpines of many different genera – some common and some rare, some easy-to-grow and some difficult. We hope that it whets your appetite and encourages you to try growing some rock plants of your own.
