84 



IRISH GARDENING. 



Violas. 



The value of these charming flowers for a 

 spring display \\as never more appreciated than 

 it has been this spring. In spite of the wet, 

 cold winter, which has proved so disastrous to 

 many things, they have been making a very 

 lovely display since the end of April. Most 

 plants looked anything but happy during April 

 and early May, while a cold east wind blew 

 almost daily, yet 

 the Violas, though 

 making no growth 

 to speak of, began 

 to open their 

 flowers, and by the 

 10th of May were 

 a blaze of colour. 

 Then the welcome 

 spring rain arrived, 

 and they became a 

 riot of blossoms. 

 Those blooming 

 now were obtained 

 by dividing the 

 plants which 

 bloomed last spring. 

 When they are 

 going over or as 

 soon as the beds 

 are wanted for 

 summer plants they 

 will be lifted, all the 

 flowers and long 

 loose shoots cut off, 

 and then they will 

 be pulled to pieces 

 and lined in in nur- 

 sery beds, where 

 they will make nice 

 sturdy plants for 

 next a u t u m n . 

 Another batch is 

 used for summer 

 and autvimn bloom- 

 ing. These are propagated by cuttings put 

 in in a cold frame in September ; these root 

 during autumn and winter, and make fine plants 

 for sj)ring planting. 



Thus it will be seen that with very little 

 trouble a large supply of beautiful flowers is 

 easily maintained without any artificial heat 

 whatever. 



Violas can be used in many ways and are 

 always pleasing. As an edging to beds of 

 Wallflowers they look very well, as a ground- 

 work for beds of bulbs they are equally fine, and 

 thev give welcome breaks of colour in the 



herbaceous borders ; as an edging to beds of 

 shrubs they give effective patches of colour, 

 while in the summer garden they can be effec- 

 ti^ely used alone or in combination with other 

 plants. 



Some of the most effective varieties grown 

 here are Moseley Perfection, King Cup, Royal 

 Sovereign and the old Canary Improved, 

 3'ellows ; Eminence, large-flowered and purple- 

 violet in colour ; J. B. Riding, rosy-mauve ; 



John Q u a r t o n , 

 light mauve ; Mrs. 

 Davidson, lavender 

 blue ; Mrs. Chi- 

 chester, white, 

 edged and flaked 

 liurple ; Wm. Neill, 

 rose coloured ; and 

 a very fine pure 

 white called here 

 Warley White, as it 

 came from MIks 

 Willmott's garden 

 in Essex. 



Of the Violetta 

 type the following 

 are good : — Blue 

 Bonnett, lavender- 

 blue ; Marginata, 

 white with a blue 

 border ; Nelly 

 Brown, yellow; 

 Queen of the Year, 

 china blue ; and 

 Violetta, white. 



B. 



Thinning Crops 



This is a very im- 

 portant and very 

 necessary oiDeration 

 in the cultivation of 

 all crops that are 

 sown M'here they are to grow to maturity, or at 

 least to the time when they are to be harvested 

 or used as food. Readers of Irish Gardening 

 who may not have had much previous exj)erience 

 no doubt benefited from the advice given by the 

 several writers, and sowed the seeds at approxi- 

 mately the right distances between the rows. 

 All will not be well, however, unless thinning 

 out in the rows is promptly attended to. The 

 mild showery weather in early May " made 

 magic " in the garden, and seeds which had 

 been l.ying apparently dormant quickened into 

 growth and raised their slender leaves to the 



Ca.massia Leicutlixi. 



