44 



IRISH GARDENING. 



star-like Ijlossunis that are wonderfully attraetive. 

 Those belonging to the Lanuginosa group, with 

 large blossoms, are very beautiful on the roof of 

 a house, and, as a rule, come finer so grown. 

 Lady Caroline XeriUe, pale lavender; lioboi 

 Ha7ihury, violet-blue; Loid Xeville, plum; 

 Andersoni Ileniyii, lavender-white; Mrs. Rope, 

 mauve, are some of the members of this interest- 

 ing section of Clematises. The Jackmanni group 

 offers many that may be brought into requisition 

 for indoor culture, especially in cold houses. Of 

 these, one may mention Gipsy Queen, violet- 

 purple; Madame Edward Andre, carmine-red, and 

 .Jackmanni, alba-white. Then there is that beauti- 

 ful pale-blue flowering plant, with its white 

 counterpart, Plumhaiio cajiensis, which makes a 

 suitable subject for training on the rafters under 

 a greenhouse roof; as does also Diplacus (iluti- 

 1WSUS, with its twining growth and orange- 

 coloured niimulus-like blossoms. Ahutilons, 

 though more fi-equently met with as decorative 

 plants in pots, are amenable to training on a roof. 

 Passioji floirers, seen from a greenhouse above 

 one's head, peering out of their deep green leaves, 

 are very beautiful, but whoever takes them in 

 hand must be prepared to prune and thin out the 

 long trailing growths; otherwise the house soon 

 becomes darkened by them. Perhaps no creep- 

 ing plant quicker gets out of bounds once pruning 

 is neglected. I'ohea scandens is another plant 

 useful as a climber in a greenhouse, rapid of 

 growth, and must, as a consequence, be kept 

 under proper control. Plants like Heliotropes and 

 Fiirhsias are not often regarded in the light of 

 climbers, but if one is prepared to train thein 

 for this, and " bide one's time," they make beauti- 

 ful subjects so grown. 



Planting. — There is unich to be said for planting 

 creepers intended for indoor growing in pots, as 

 then they are under more control, and if needful 

 can be taken out of doors at intervals, but when 

 so grown the duty of watering is one which must 

 not be lost sight of, as few subjects show neglect 

 sooner by shedding of the leave.s, and the practice 

 of standing large pots containing such plants on 

 ashes or cocoa fibre has something to commend it. 

 Much may be done to enhance a greenhouse by 

 selecting a few subjects for serving both as a 

 shade for other occupants of the house, and for 

 the attraction such creepers are when in blossom; 

 but ruider no circumstances ought they to be 

 allowed to grow to the extent of impeding light so 

 necessary to other plants that should, obviously, 

 have the first consideration. 



Mercaston. 



Some Rare Ferns for the Rock 

 Garden. 



Many people ask m-? about ferns they see at 

 Floraire, and are astonished never to have heard 

 of them. Will you allow me to write a few lines 

 about them. Asphiiiiiin fissurn is the most delicate 

 and finely cut of our European ferns, and resembles 

 an HymcnophyUiitn Tiinhridgense. It is a densely 

 tufted plant, not exceeding 15-20 centimetres high, 

 forming broad tufts of rich green. It is to the lime- 

 stone ebonlis, the equivalent of the Parsley Fern 

 {AUosurus crispus) on the granite. It is, however, 

 distinct and has its sporangia on the underside of 

 the segments as have all the Asplenia. I very often 

 saw other kinds under its name, and rarely found 

 it true in botanic gardens. I went ten years ago 

 to the Val d'Pesio north side of the famous Col di 

 Tende, Italy, and there found it in great abund- 



ance. That is its unique seat on the north side of 

 the Alps, as its centre of dispersal is in the Balkans. 

 It has been found in Easter Oestenath ( ?) and in 

 the Abruzzi (,S. Italy). 



It is of easy culture, growing in full sun in the 

 rockery, or in peaty soil with a little chalk added. 

 I found it much easier here than AUosurus crispus. 



.Isplenimn glandulosum (.1. rrtrasclin^) grows 

 in old walls or on limestone rocks in the Mediter- 

 ranean region, and northwards to near Avignon. 

 It differs from .I. Trichomanes l:)y its shorter and 

 broader fronds, its segments being tjroad and large, 

 and the whole of a glandular nature. The foliage 

 dies off coniijletely in summer, and then you may 

 not find it at all where you foimd it abundantly in 

 spring; it takes a rest, and so when I saw this and 

 the same with Chcilanthes odora that the life of 

 the plant recedes to the rhizome in the liottest 

 months of the year, I had the explanation of the 

 failures in my cultures at Floraire. We then tried 

 giving it a rest of some months and the result 

 was wonderful — not a plant lost again. 



.Asplcnium acutum is near to .4. .-idiautuin-niiinnn, 

 ,but its segments are broader-pointed, deex^ shining 

 green on the upper side and silvery white beneath. 

 It grows in the south Tyrol near to the Lake of 

 Garda, and can be grown in the same way as .1. 

 .ididutii iii-iii(iriim. 



.Isplriiiuiu serpei'tiiinm is a very distinct form 

 of .4. .idiaiifunt-iiiiiruni with oval and pointed seg- 

 ments; deeper green than the type it is a rare fern 

 which has recently been found near Klosters in 

 the Grison (Switzerland), and which I saw in 

 abundance near Genoa in the Ligurian Alps. Here 

 it succeeds well in moraine, quite in a sunny 

 position. .Isphniuiii septentrionalr (Forked Spleen- 

 wort) is well known in England, and is found in 

 the highest mountains of granitic formation. In 

 the whole Alpine chain it always grows iri primi- 

 tive locks, and when found in the Jura it is on 

 erratic stones brought there in the glacial period. 

 It wants full sun and crevices in non-chalky rocks. 

 It roughly resembles stiff grass leaves twice or 

 thrice forked, with its parts slightly saw-toothed. 



.Ispli'tiiiiih III riiianicum grows frequenlly with 

 the last-named, but only on the south side of the 

 Alps (very seldom here and there in the warmer 

 valleys of the north side), and is considered as a 

 hylirid between .1. septentrionalr and .4. liittn- 

 murnrin or .4. Tiirhomanes or even with .4. riride. 

 It has a slender habit, the alternate segments 

 larger, three or more dentations, and has scarcely 

 any fructifications. It likes the full sun and the 

 cracks of a wall or rock. I never found it else- 

 where than on granite. 



Cheilanthrs adorn (frnijruiis) is a delicate jewel, 

 making dwarf tufts of light green; fronds 1() cent, 

 high, narrow, with a pink or brownish rachis, the 

 segments very obtuse, rounded and opposite. It 

 grows in old walls and crevices of rocks (limestone) 

 in the south of France, north of Italy and extend- 

 ing to India. I>ike .4. ijlandulosuat, it rests in 

 summer and cannot be found if one does not know 

 exactly where it is. There are two XofhorMn'nas 

 in the same region, viz.. A'. Maronta aind .V. 

 Vell^'n. .Y. Mornntn- is a delightful thing growing 

 in large broad patches forming Viig colonies of 

 dark green, always in damp places (watered from 

 lielow) in rocks, "walls, or stony slopes of N. Italy, 

 South France, etc. Its thick rootstock is dense and 

 hard; sometimes I found patches three feet broad. 

 The fronds are stiff, hard, and evergreen, deep green 

 above and covered on the underside with rough 

 scales, just like .4. Cetirncli. but darker brown. 

 It is a calcifuge plant and must lie grown in peat 



