IRISH GARDENING. 



lOI 



Plants and the Winter, 



I THINK the Editor was wise in extending the 

 " observation period " till June, for as late as 

 the 5th I found a nice shoot just showing 

 at the base of a plant of Spartium junceum 

 that I was about to pull i;p as hopeless. And 

 it is onl}^ within the last fortnight that shoots 

 are visible on the Ampelopsis senipervirens 

 which covers the south wall of the rectory. 



As I think many 

 people have already 

 remarked, the 

 effects of the 

 severe winter have 

 been very curious, 

 many hardy sub- 

 jects suffering un- 

 expectedly and 

 others reputedly 

 tender surviving 

 unhurt . Nothing- 

 suffered here more 

 sadly than the 

 Cistus ; we have 

 a nice little col- 

 lection, and never 

 had any loss before, 

 except from winds. 

 Now only C. for- 

 mosus and C. 

 villosus have come 

 through without 

 damage. I fully 

 expected to lose 

 formosus, as it is, 

 I think, one of the 

 more tender sorts, 

 but instead it is 

 all right and now 

 flowering well, while 

 in just the same 

 position a small 

 compact bush of a 

 white variety, 

 whose name I am not sure of (its particular 

 feature is red buds, the flowers pure white), 

 has been so damaged that more than half 

 the plant is dead. And it is the same with 

 the varieties florentinus, cymosus and lusi- 

 tanicus, while one of the best — " Brilliancy " — 

 was entirely killed,. Growing in the shelter of 

 a laurel hedge, there is a fine old specimen of 

 Deutzia gracilis, and it ntn^er was better, and 

 is now a sheet of white. 



The Lithospermums came off very badly. 

 L. rosmarinifolium was killed outright, L. 



Anemone nupicobA. 

 Photo by li. M. Pollocl- 



graminifolium is feebly struggling back to life, 

 and a splendid big mass of L. prostratum was, 

 until lately, a brown mound. I was advised to 

 cut it down, but I am glad now that I waited, 

 for it is shooting nicely, and if all goes well will 

 renew itself again, though we cannot look for 

 much flower. Its variety, Heavenly Blue, came 

 off better ; at least, though it was very brown, 

 it made a better recovery, and is now flowering 

 well. The Heath bed was curiously affected ; 

 it is very much exposed, and some of our own 



native varieties 

 were badly dam- 

 aged, some were 

 killed, while, 

 strangely enough, 

 E. stricta and E. 

 vagans never seem- 

 ed to mind , and 

 are beautifully 

 green. E.Maweana 

 is gone, and E. 

 Veitchii cut to the 

 ground. The 

 spring-flowering E. 

 carnea and E. med. 

 hybrida were very 

 cood, but later 

 than usual. The 

 Furze, too, presents 

 a curious contrast. 

 A self-sown com- 

 mon one was quite 

 spoiled, while in 

 just the same posi- 

 tion the Spanish 

 variety never 

 seemed to feel the 

 winds or frost at 

 all, and is now 

 a sheet of flower. 

 The Brooms aye 

 all more or less 

 spoiled, and many 

 killed outright, as 

 Mell as several fine 

 bushes of Veronicas, though V. pinguifolia and 

 V. pimelioides were unhurt. The Hypericums 

 were all badly hit, particularly the older and 

 larger plants. One great mass of H.fgracile is 

 gone, and for months a sheet of brown draped 

 the rock-face that was always so lovely with 

 H. reptans. However, it is now showing spots 

 of green ; and Helichrysum bellidioides is 

 shooting in the same mottled way, and where it 

 can at all it is flowering. I think its power of 

 running along under ground through the stones 

 must have been its salvation, 



