IRISH GARDENING 



stony bank rewarded (hu- search, but unfor- 

 tunately the pods had already opened their boat- 

 like segments and shot away their seeds, and 

 after searching over hundreds of ])lants the 

 hai'vest of seed was small, and to make matters 

 worse a terrific thunderstorm of several hours' 

 duration did not improve our spirits. Viola 

 Valderia has downy gray-green leaves, which 

 when ^-rowing one nught easily mistake for a 

 Campanula ; they are entire, long and narrow ; 

 although the flowers are not brilliant, yet there 

 is something about them which appeals most 

 strongly. They are true little Pansies of a reddish- 

 lilac colour, with bright yellow eyes and petals 

 bearded at the centre like most of their set. This 

 Pansy will require moraine treatment, or possibly 

 it will do in soil and grit in equal i)arts, but 

 seemingly it will need a dee]) root-run, for from 

 one main root a i)erfect network of libres descends 

 to a foot f>r 

 nu)re in de])th. 

 On returning 

 to the hotel we 

 were just in 

 time to see the 

 King of Italy 

 stej) into his 

 motor after a 

 walk along the 

 X'alasco (ilen. 

 A guide was 

 chartered for 

 the following 

 day to cross 

 over the Ciiiega 

 Pass to the 

 Boreon Valley, 

 just above St. 

 Martin Vesubie 

 and we arrang- 

 ed with the 

 propi'ietor of 

 the hotel to 

 start at four in 

 the morning 

 with breakfast 

 before stai'ting. 

 Four o'clock 

 came but no 

 breakfast. 

 After ex])loring 



the hotel we managed to get a roll and some milk, 

 and set out for our long tram]), oin- o)>ject being to 

 visit the home of that rare and difficult i)lant 

 Saxifraga florulenta ami also Viola nummulari- 

 foiia. This gi'anitic i-egiou is the only known i>lace 

 where S. Horuleuta grows wild, on .such high 

 l)eaks as the Argentera, Mont .Matteo, Ciriega. 

 (\A delle Finestre, and according to our guide a. 

 few other crags. The morning was dark, cold and 

 dreary as we left the huge Vrldieii Hotel, so 

 beautifully situated in the glen among the beech 

 woods. P'ollowing the roaring (iesso river, turn- 

 ing up the N'alley of N'allelta. tramping for miles 

 along an easy l)ath. in front, growing bigger and 

 nearer very slowly, lay the high l)lank wall of 

 the f'iriega. The base of the rock looked dai'k 

 and black, and above this a waJl of snow. At 

 the base one sees the Alpine Rhododendron already 

 bearing seed pods; climbing steadily, Init surely, 

 higher and higher one comes again across ifjust 

 opening its flowers where the snow has recently 

 melted. Among the stony parts one sees colonies 

 of a queer thistle with whitish bracts. It grows 



PlUMULA INVOLUCRATA AT :\roUNT I^SHEH, Co. Wu KI.oW, 



about a foot to eighteen inches high, and is known 

 as Cirsium spinosissinmm. Adenostvles leuco- 

 phylla covers a good stretch, and when its leaves 

 are young makes quite a silvery caipet. Later 

 on, when bearing pink blossoms, it seems a coarser 

 ])]ant, although by mountain streams it looks 

 effective. Here and there among huge tumbled 

 boiUders is Saxifraga pedemontana. The large 

 luscious green rosettes of this mossy Saxifraga are 

 always attractive, and ajjpeal to "me more than 

 any of its section when not in Hower. The 

 flowers are ])roduced on branching stems, but are 

 a trifle thin and narrow in petal. At home 

 Saxifraga bryoides is very scant and sparse with 

 its flowers, but at this height it mimics a 

 Kabschia, forming tight little cushions covered 

 with dainty whitish flowers spotted with red, or. 

 stems about 2 inches high. I'ossibly it wants 

 moraine treatment to induce it to flowerfreely. The 



highei' (ien- 

 tiaiis are here 

 forming seed 

 pods with the 

 Alpine Ane- 

 mones bv their 



si <l e . * T h e 

 1 > o !• o n i (• u m 

 still raises its 

 golden head, 

 and Viola cal- 

 carata varies 

 fro ni yellow, 

 white to purple 

 blue. Leaving 

 the rocks we 

 step on to t he 

 snow co\ei-e(l 

 l)ass of 1 li e 

 Ciriega. we jilod 

 on s t e a. d i 1 y 

 oxer the fi'ozeii 

 snow bv a zig- 

 zag path. Tlu' 

 snow rises 

 gi'aduaily in 

 seeiniMuiy never 

 eiuling teri'act's 

 l.ea\iiig t h e 

 path we ex- 

 amine plants 

 on the side 

 ol I he rock, but lind the ground frozen almost as 

 hard as the granite, for live sun has not risen above 

 the walls of mountain which surround this gorge. 



(To hi cntiiinol) ('. l-\ li. 



Primula involucrata 



This beautiful l!imala.yan siiecies loves to be in 

 the vicinity of water, aiul nowhere have we seen 

 it better than in .Mr. Walpole's favoured garden 

 at Mount Usher in Co. Wicklow. Plant<'.d by the 

 side of a small stream in a colony it bears freiily 

 at the end of Ai)ri! and into May sweet scented 

 flowers raised on stems a. foot high. 



Although by water its highest development is 

 ■ seen, yet it nuiy b(^ grown on the rockery if a 

 cool ])Osition is chosen, but a smaller stature is 

 att£iined than when growing by water. The root- 

 stock is similar to that of the " Pilcwort," the 

 narrowly oblong leaves are a shining smooth 

 gr<?en, while the flowers are white tinted with 

 lilac, nearly an inch acro.ss, with round corolla 

 lobes, and borne in umbels. P. involucrata 

 .Munroi is a variety with flowers sufl'used with blue. 



