IRISH GARDENING. 



149 



year, Dartmouth is fine and John Downie 

 :;tiiddecl thickly with f.^"uit on every branch. 

 They will be a fine sight when the fruit attains 

 mature colouring. It Mould be interesting to 

 know if any other reader has fruit on Neid- 

 wetzkiana. J. M. W. 



Hardy Yuccas. 



In these da^'s when food jiroduction loom 

 largeh' in our minds we are apt to forget the 

 beauties of nature until some happy chance 

 brings to our notice some beautiful fiower or 

 charming colour combination. Such a chance 

 occurred when Mr. E. H. Walpole sent the 

 beautiful photograph of a Yucca, herewith 

 reproduced. Delightful in itself, the picture 

 teaches us the value of having permanent 

 occupants of our gardens which can be r3lied on 

 to go on increasing in vigour and beauty j'ear 

 by 3^ear without troublesome planting and 

 propagating annualh*. 



The Yuccas came through last winter magni- 

 ficently, and are interesting at all times, even 

 when not in flower ; their handsome sword -like 

 leaves show up distinctly amongst the surround- 

 ing vegetation, and the plants are effective 

 either as isolated specimens or in groups. 

 Practically all the hardy species, numbering 

 about seven, with as many varieties, come 

 from the southern States of America. 



A fuller account of the genus appeared in 

 our issue of October, 1915, p. 149. 



Rhododendron Auriculatum. 



Among the new species of Rhododendrons 

 introduced by ]Mi'. E. H. Wilson from China this 

 is one of the most distinct and striking. The 

 long, leather}' evergreen leaves, up to 13 inches 

 long and 2 to 5 inches wide arrest attention at 

 any time, while its late season of growth and 

 fiowering, the end of July and early August, give 

 the plant a distinct value of which in happier 

 times our hybridists- will, no doubt, take full 

 advantage. 



R. auriculatum was introduced from Western 

 HujDeh by Mr. Wilson in 1901 when collecting 

 for Messrs. Veitch, while Mr. Augustine Henry, 

 now Professor Henry, collected specimens earlier 

 in the Patung district of Hupeh. It forms a 

 large shrub or small tree up to 30 feet high. 

 The species is allied to Fortunei, decorum, and 

 discolor, and has six to eight large funnel- 

 shaped flowers in a truss, usually seven-lobed, 

 occasionally with six or eight. 



A plant recently flowering in the Rhododen- 



dron cell at Kew attracted considerable atten- 

 tion. Its behaviour suggests partial shade for 

 successful culture. The white or pink flowers 

 have a distinct fragrance. The Wilson-Veitch 

 seed number is 920 W. A. D. 



Lilium Regale, 



In his note u^xm this Lily, at page 119 of the 

 August issue cf Irish Gardening, " Anon." 

 certainly does not overrate its quality. Having 

 regard to its hardihood, its immunity from 

 disease, thg ease with Avhich it may be raised 

 from seed and its superlative beauty and per- 

 fume, I consider it the most desirable of the 

 genus which has been introduced to this country. 

 ■' Anon." says that it may be grown from seed 

 to flowering size in about five years. One need 

 not wait so long. Seed was saved and sown here 

 in the autumn of 1915 ; some of the seedlings 

 have flowered in the open this summer — that is, 

 in less than two years. I enclose a photograph 

 of one of a group planted three years ago. It 

 was 5 feet 4 inches high, bore eleven blooms, 

 and grew in loam with lime added, and a liberal 

 admixture of wood ashes. 



The string, which appears so prominently in 

 the photograjih, was attached to steady the 

 plant while its portrait was taken on a breezy 

 morning, not to support it ; for it is one of the 

 merits of this Lil}^ that it requires no staking, 

 the stem being strong and wiry. 



L. regale has a formidable rival in beauty in 

 L. Sargentse, which, however, is not so hard}', 

 at least we have not yet hit upon the nature of 

 its requirements. We have lost several old 

 bulbs during the winter, although two-year-old 

 plants raised from stem-bulbils, which this Lily 

 produces in great profusion, came through 

 unhurt, and several of them are flowering this 

 autumn. It is much to be hoped that it will 

 prove amenable to the conditions of our soil 

 and climate, for it is a splendid flower, and 

 blooms three weeks or a moith later than L. 

 regale. Herbert Maxwell; 



Monreith . 



CEnothera missouriensis* 



This '" Evening Piimrose " has the advantage 

 of flowering by day as well as in the evening. 

 The large handsome jellow flowers are attractive 

 at all times and are well set off by the reddish 

 prostrate stems clothed with narrow grey-white 

 leaves. A sunny position in well drained soil is 

 best where it is a welcome addition to the rock- 

 garden in autumn. 



