166 



IRISH GARDENING. 



Chinese Rhododendrons. 



Through the kindness of Mr. P. D. Williams, 

 who presented a fine series of photographs to 

 Sir F. W. Moore, we hope to be able to show 

 readers of Irish GARDENiisiG something of the 

 way Rhododendrons grow in China. The photos, 

 were taken by Mr. George Forrest, whose 

 brilliant work as a collector is well known to all 

 interested in gardening. Mr. Forrest has been 

 instrumental in introducing a considerable 

 number of new species, and has also added much 

 to our knowledge of previously known species 

 by an intelligent study of the plants in their 

 native habitats. Our first photo, shows three 

 species which have been known in gardens for 

 a good many years — at least R. Fortunei and 

 R. racemosum have, but it is doubtful if there 

 are any true plants of R. yunnanense in cultiva- 

 tion other than seedlings raised from seeds 

 recently sent home. A few comparatively old 

 ]ilants which have been known in gardens as 

 R. yunnanense are now recognised as R. charto- 

 phylluni; and were introduced to Europe through 

 Paris by the Abbe Delava}^ some twenty-five 

 years ago. 



R. Fortunei is a very old inhabitant of our 

 gardens, having been introduced from East 

 China in 1859 by Robert Fortune, one of the 

 pioneers of plant collecting in China. It is a 

 hardy species, producing fine clusters of hand- 

 some blush -coloured flowers, and flowering rather 

 earlier than most of the large flowered kinds. 

 It has been much used for hybridising, and 

 many beautiful varieties have resulted. 



Rhododendron racemosum is a most distinct 

 and pretty species, quite unlike the ordinary 

 conception of a Rhododendron. The flowers are 

 not produced in terminal clusters as is the case 

 with most other species, but are produced in 

 clusters of two or three in the leaf axils of shoots 

 of the previous year's growth. It is a lovely 

 ])lant for massing, and could be used very 

 effectively as a groundwork for other taller- 

 growing members of the same family. 



R. racemosum is said to reach a height of 

 six feet when established and growing well, but 

 is oftener seen about three feet high, and never 

 seems to form a dense shrub. 



B. 



^thionema grandiflora. 



This is untloubtedly the finest of all the 

 ^thionemas, although the smaller species have 

 merits of their own. The long racemes of rose- 

 coloured flowers are beautif ..! in earlv June, and 



a large jilant or grouj) of ])lants is invariably a 

 centre of attraction in the rock garden. Seeds 

 are freely produced, as a rule, affording a ready 

 means of increase ; they are ripe in early autumn 

 and may be sown at once or in early spring. 

 Germination soon takes place, and as soon as 

 the seedlings can be conveniently handled they 

 should be potted off singly into thumb pots in 

 very gritty soil. In spring they may be trans- 

 ferred to the rock garden, preferring a chink 

 between stones which are backed by well- 

 drained soil. The younger the plants are put 

 out the surer and quicker they establish them- 

 selves, being very impatient f root disturbance 

 Seedlings from the seed pot may be planted 

 directly on to the rock garden in spnng, and are 

 then easil}^ inserted into narrow fissures such as 

 they love. Many alpines may be treated in this 

 way, and n,ot infrequently grow better and make 

 finer plants than when coddled in frames and 

 nursed on in pots, forming tangled masses of 

 roots which do not readily take to new quarters. 



B. (Dubhn), 



Saxifraga paradoxa X S. longifolia, 



A HANDSOME hybrid which originated in Mr. 

 Murray Hornibrook's garden in Queen's County. 

 The long narrow leaves, many of them three 

 inches long, are thickly dotted on the margins 

 with characteristic lime pits. From the stronger 

 rosettes arise fine branching spikes of solid 

 white flowers, making a most attractive display 

 Though, like S. paradoxa, a rather shy flowerer, 

 the plants are nevertheless interesting even when 

 not in flower. For a chink between rocks no 

 more desirable plant could be named, the 

 rosettes lending themselves admirably for such 

 a posirtion. The rosettes increase freely, many 

 offsets forming annually. 



The Carpathian Buttercup. 



Kanunculus carpaticus. 



Among early flowering bog plants this stands 

 out conspicuously and is useful in flowering 

 before the Trolliuses, to which it bears some 

 resemblance. The leaves are comparatively 

 large and lobed, while the handsome flowers are 

 of a bright Buttercup yellow. A position in the 

 drier part of the bog suits it admirably, w'here 

 it flowers simultaneously with the white R. 

 amplexicaulis and slightly later than R. 

 cassubicus. 



