88 



IRISH GARDENING 



Notes. 

 Cytisus Ardoini, 



A NATIVE of the inaritime Alps, this is one of the 

 prettiest of dwarf shrubs for the rock 

 garden, and loves a sunny position in light soiL 

 Barely growing more than six inches high, it 

 makes a pretty mass of small hairy leaves 

 surmounted by abundance of golden yellow 

 flowers. It was very tina in Mr. Praeger's 

 garden at Rathgar in the middle of May. It 

 can be raised from seeds or cuttings, and is one 

 of the parents of the beautiful Cytisus Beani, 

 now becoming very popular. 



Viola Sieheana. 



This little-known Violet has been flowering for 

 some time in the rock garden at Glaf^nevin, and 

 .though of modest size is neverthelesr: attractive 

 in its light blue flowers. Of tufted habit, the 

 plants do not seem to attain any great size, and 

 are apparently best raised from seeds frequently. 

 It produces the showy flowers in early summer, 

 and later on usually bears the inconspicuous 

 green flowers which produce the seeds. This 

 is, of course, a characteristic of Violets. 



Diervilla praecox. 



Easily the earliest of the " Weigelias " to 

 flower and coming in succession to the For- 

 sythias, D. prsecox is a very desirable shrub. 

 The flowers are a very pretty shade of rose, and 

 are freely produced on shoots of the previous 

 year. After flowering, these shoots should be 

 thinned out, leaving the new ones now growing 

 to develop for next year. 



Primula Sinopurpurea. 



This striking new species seems likely to prove 

 of great value for a moist bay in the rock 

 garden. Having come safely through the past 

 winter without any protection it appears to be 

 quite hardy, and will undoubtedly be much 

 grown when more plentiful. It is in many ways 

 a remarkable plant. When the first flowers are 

 expanding the leaves are from 3| to 4 inches 

 long and about 1 to l-j ins. broad, lightly dusted 

 with yellow powder on the under surface. 



The flowers are produced from a main stalk, 

 the individual flower stalks or pedicels being 

 densely furnished with yellow powder, while the 

 calyx is dark chocolate bro^vii, the segments 



edged with yellow powder. The whole effect 

 of yellow pedicels, chocolate calyx and reddish 

 violet corolla is very pretty. I understand that 

 seedlings show some variation in colour, so that 

 the above description may not exactly apply 

 to every plant. There seems no difficulty in 

 cultivation, for young plants put out last summer 

 in a half-shady position in moist soil composed 

 of loam and peat have grown well and are now 

 flowering. B. 



Macrotomia echioides. 



A BRii.HT and early flowering plant of the 

 Borage family and one which has been a glor.y 

 this spring, when most things were very slow to 

 move. During the cold, dry winds of late April 

 it opened its soft yellow flowers, apparently 

 indifferent to the arctic breeze, and it was 

 equally good whether growing in light, dry soil 

 on the rockery or in richer border conditions 

 When in flower it is not more than a foot high, 

 and is therefore quite suitable for the rock 

 garden. The soft yellow flowers are at first 

 marked by a dark brown spot at the base of 

 the petals, but these soon disappear. It is 

 easily increased b}^ means of seeds or root 

 cuttings. 



The Cress Rocket, 



Vella pseudo-cytisus. 



The finest specimen I have seen of this rather 

 uncommon shrub is in Mr. Lloyd Praeger's 

 garden, and must be quite three feet high and 

 as much through. It is apparently perfectly 

 hardy there on the south side of Dublin, and has 

 never had any special protection other than 

 occurs naturally from the walls bounding the 

 garden. Although originally quite open to the 

 sun, it is now greatly shaded by a laburnum tree 

 which has grown up beside it, nevertheless the 

 Cress Rocket continues to flourish. Now, in the 

 middle of May, it is well furnished with its 

 3^ellow cruciferous flowers. It is an evergreen 

 with smallish leaves, which are furnished with 

 stiff hairs. Propagation is easy by means of 

 cuttings in summer. 



Androsace Chumbyi Brilliant. 



Androsace Chumbyi is said to be a hybrid of 

 A. sarmentosa -f A. villosa, and partakes, in 

 habit, greatly of the first named. It bears 

 umbels of rosy-coloured flowers very freely in 

 May, and is a very desirable rock plant. In the 

 form recently distributed as Brilliant the flowers. 



