IRISH GARDENING. 



115 



on a bare wind swept elevation and was killed 

 in slieltered situations. 



This is not a Rose country, and, even with 

 special soil and drainage, the usual^ garden 

 Roses are difficult, but Polyanthus and Rugosas 

 are magnificent, and as an unusually fine 

 coloured form of the Dog Rose grows freely 

 everywhere, it may be possible to overcome the 

 difficulties of the later hybrids by grafting or 

 budding them upon this stock. It would be an 

 experiment well worth tr^dng. 



M. H. 



Trees and Shrubs* 



Up to the time of writing — viz , the 12th of July, 

 we have had an almost continuous drought of 

 several weeks. This has been excellent for hay- 

 making among trees, a painfully difficult 

 business some seasons, but fiowering trees and 

 shrubs, and especially lately planted stuff, have 

 had a somewhat trying time. In this dry soil, 

 which contains absolutely no natural humus, 

 shrubs and trees have great difficulty in making 

 good growth if the early part of the season be 

 dry. Heavy mulches of manure put on weak 

 subjects in autumn is turning up now in dry 

 cakes where weeding is being done, so that for 

 lack of moisture less benefit has accrued than 

 otherwise would have been the case. However, 

 a very good display of flowers has obtained in 

 spite o; adversity. Rarely have the Dentzias 

 flowered longer or better. The earlier flowering 

 sj)ecies and varieties were noted in last month's 

 Arboretum notes, and they were followed by 

 D. crenata with its various forms. These are 

 mostly bigger growers than the early ones, 

 though some of the Chinese species appear likely 

 to attain considerable size. D. crenata when 

 well grown gets as large as some of the Phila- 



delphuses, and is not so coarse— that is, there 

 seems a better balance between flower and 

 foliage. There are several varieties, of which 

 the double is one of the most distinct. D. 

 crenata is correctly called D. scabra, although 

 the former name still persists in catalogues. 



Among the many Rose species which have 

 come into flower since Rosa Moyesii bloomed 

 none is more delightful than the old Musk Rose. 

 R. moschata. Grown in the open it forms a' 

 wide spreading bush with stout arching branches 

 which now are furnished for half their length 

 with large corymbs of white heavily scented 

 flowers. It is an admirable species for growing 

 as a specimen, and flourishes where the highly- 

 bred hybrids languish. 



Clematis montana Wilsoni is always welcome, 

 flowering in July, when the typical form is long 

 over and when white-flowering climbers are not 

 plentiful. The flowers are larger than the 

 common form, quite as large as the variety 

 grandiflora. Two of the finest '' False Acacias " 

 are flowering beautifully this year — namely, 

 Robinia hisjDida, commonly called the Rose 

 Acacia, and R. viscosa The Clammy Locust. 

 The former has lovely rose-coloured flowers of 

 good size, and the latter pink or pale rose with 

 a yellow blotch on the standard. Of the many 

 Philadelphuses which have come into flower in 

 July, rather later than usual, none is more 

 beautiful than P. Lewisii, one of the older species; 

 in it there seems to be a better balance between 

 flower and leaf than in some of the others, which 

 seem always to show an excessive amount of 

 young growths among the flowering branches. 

 P. Lewisii carries the flowering branches well 

 above the succeeding growths, and is thus light 

 and graceful in appearance. Another very fine 

 shrub is P. latifolius, often called P. grandiflorus 

 var. floribundus ; the flowers are particularly 



The Middle Terrace, Ballynahinch Castle. 



