IRISH GARDENING. 



21 



The Winter Sweet. 

 Chimonamthus Fragrans. 

 This delightful winter flowei-ing shrub has been 

 opening its blossoms for some weeks now, and 

 on sunny da^s the perfume is very sweet, even 

 at some distance away. Here in Dublin it 

 requires a south wall to do really well, though 

 elsewhere it will flower in the open, but requires 

 more sun to ripen the wood than we get here 

 usually. The ordinary form, or what is reckoned 

 as the type, has the sweetest scented flowers and 

 is quite good enough for most purposes. There 

 is, however, a variety — grandiflora — ^Avitli Idrger 

 flowers, which are very handsome when cut and 

 jilaced in a room. There is also recorded a 

 variety — luteus — ^with the petals all yellow 

 instead of the inner ones being reddish -j)urple — 

 but I have not seen it. 



The flowers of the ordinary form if cut in the 

 ])ud state and placed in a room where there is a 

 tire at least part of the clay, open freely and seem 

 even to attain a larger size than if they oj^ened 

 on the plant. 



It often happens that when gathernig twigs for 

 the house most of the flowers are found clustered 

 at the base, just where the twig is detached. 

 At flrst it seems impossible to place them in 

 water without immersing the flowers, but they 

 open just as well if the oj)i)osite end of the shoot 

 is placed in the water, first cutting off a small 

 l^ortion from the apex. 



The Maritime Pine. 



PiNUs Pinaster Syn. P. maritima. 



Also known as The Cluster Pine from the cones 

 being borne in whorls frequently remaining on 

 the tree for years, this species is very striking 

 when it has reached 40 to 50 feet in height. 

 Although not remarkably valuable as a timber 

 tree it is nevertheless imported in considerable 

 quantity for pit props, and, as it grows rapidly 

 when young, it is worthy the attention of 

 planters who are looking for quick returns. It 

 is, iiowever, very valuable for seaside planting, 

 and for this purpose would probably prove use- 

 ful in the west of Ireland, where trees are very 

 much wanted for shelter as well as to improve 

 the landscape. 



It has been very largely planted in France on 

 poor sandy soil, and yields annually a most 

 substantial revenue. 



It Avould be interesting to know whether 

 P. Pinaster has been planted in any quantity 

 anywhere on the Irish coasts ; perhaps some 

 member of the Irish Forestry Society could 

 tell us. B. 



Illicium religiosum. 



This is an evergreen shrub belonging to the 

 same natural order as the Magnolias, but not 

 quite so hardy as the majority of these hand- 

 some shrubs. It grows fairly well, however, in 

 some of the milder parts of Ireland, and is an 

 interesting addition to the exotic vegetation of 

 this country. It is an evergreen bearing some- 

 what narrowly oval leaves borne on stout stalks. 

 The flowers are not conspicuous, being of a 

 greenish-yellow colour and composed of a large 

 number of petals. The fruits are interesting 

 from their shaj)e and the fact that they are 

 probably not often seen outside. As will be 

 seen from our illustration, they are somewhat 

 star-shaped, the fruit illustrated being com- 

 posed of seven carpels arranged round a common 

 axis. Only a few of the carpels contained a 

 single seed. Our specimen came from Mr. 

 Walpole's collection at Mount Usher, Co. 

 Wicklow. 



A Crimson Heather. 



Calluna vulgaris Alportii. 

 This is one of the finest of the numerous 

 varieties of the common Ling. In the absence 

 of hme there are no more beautiful and interest- 

 ing hardy dwarf shrubs than the hardy heaths, 

 and among them the subject of this note is cer- 

 tainly pre-eminent. Of robust upright habit, 

 the stems thickly clothed with small dark green 

 leaves and producing in autumn handsome 

 spikes of dark crimson flowers, a group of plants 

 makes a striking picture. B. 



Clematis Fargesii. 



Native of W. Szechuan and W. Kanslt. 

 This, as our illustration show^s, is a remarkably 

 pretty species, and will be sought after by 

 gardening folk when planting is again freely 

 taken up in the happier time which all hope is 

 soon to arrive. 



The flowers are large and white, produced 

 singty or two or three together in the axils of 

 the leaves of young branches. They appear in 

 early summer and make a very lovely display. 

 The plant is a vigorous grower, quickly covering 

 a considerable space, and will be useful for 

 covering arbours, trelhs work and rustic work 

 of any kind ; allowed to ramble at will over 

 some low-growing tree which has passed its best, 

 a pretty picture would result. 



A number of the new Chinese species of 

 Clematis are not of great decorative merit, but 

 there are several others of considerable beauty 

 which I hope to refer to as opportunity affords 

 of illustrating them. B. 



