IRISH GAKDEXIXG 



37 



eye. ThLs will furlh«;r lw;lp to knt;]) tht} centra of 

 the tree op'rru iJo not leavf; finniiH of wood 

 above the eyes, cut a^ clr«e aw you can. Cut 

 straif^ht acroHs and avoid long HlantiriK, sloping, 

 »kelping cuts, «uc:h a« Htmia old fanJuoned 

 gar<Ieru;rs love to make. Thiey are r;nly land- 

 rriarkit for wfMivils, A:c., to li(?ht on to lay their eggH, 



Of late years I have given up firuning Horruj 

 rampant growers, such as Hugh Dickson, and now 

 I peg them down. Prune away all useless wood 

 and clijj the unripe tops off the remaining shoots. 

 Have pref>ared by you pieces of strong wir»; about 

 one foot long with a crook at the end. Bend your 

 hIuhAh flown (do not leave too many) and [leg them 

 down with these wires. Try and arrange them 

 Hr> that you leave yours<,-lf room to hoe, and strive 

 to furnish your bed all over. 



l^ave your Teas alf>ne until April and prune 

 them in just the same way. Here you will find 

 that frost has done a gr^jd df;al for you. Beware 

 of leaving eyes thut have pushed into growth. 

 They are most pif,bably frosted and blind. Get 

 a good [dump owMooking bud and cut to tliat. It 

 you have .Maman C'ochet or the white variety, 

 put your knife in your pocket and pasH on — this 

 Rose wants no pruning. 



I am afraid these notes are a bit scattered, but 

 I have tried to treat this mo;-it difficult subject 

 in as brief a way an I can, and so, reanhit, I hope 

 that you will forgive me if it is not au fait; but let 

 me impress you to use your eyes when pnining, 

 and if you require quality to use your knife more 

 harshly than if you require quantity, but for 

 goodness sake drop the " lady's plan," as I <all it. 

 of being too mean to cut hard enough. 



How to Grow Herbaceous Phlox 



By Jamks Kearney, Killiney, Co, Dublin. 



The llcvhaiiui<i\!in Phlox 'P. decussata) in ant of 

 the most beautiful and liardy of garden flj>%vers. 

 With good culture and careful selection of 

 varietiffs a gloriou.s display of flowers may be 

 liad from July to October. Plant in groups 

 of three or four plants dotted along the 

 herbace<^iu.s border, or a much better effect may 

 be had from ma«s<^;d planting in beds or borders 

 solely devoted to them, but they lend thern«<^;lv*^ 

 readily to either method. 



Phloxes succeed in deeply dug and well 

 manured ground, which must not lie sfwlden 

 during the winter months, as they strongly 

 resfint such a position at that period of the year, 

 and the site sele<-ted must have partial shade 

 during the summer month« to obtain the best 

 results, for if ex prised to full sunshine the sun's 

 rays liave a deadening effect on the flowers, 

 especially the s^;arlet, jiurple and pink shades- 

 *-. The ground should be trenclied about 2 ff^et 

 deep, mixing with the s^*!! a good dressing of 

 well decayed cow manure on light soils, and if 

 inclined to be heavy us*^ stable manure from an 

 old hotbed, with leaf-sfjil and road scrapings 

 added. Phloxes are very susceptible to altarrks 

 of er-l-worm, and if they are prr^^ent in the s^jil 

 give a thor^iugh dressing of Vaporite as trenching 

 proceeds, and wlw-n the trenching is finished 

 tread down the s'^il firndy and allow to settle 

 for one week before planting. 



The best time for planting in mild localities 

 and on hot sandy soils is from the end of 

 September to the end of November, but on cold 



soil-s planting is better done fjarly in September, 

 when the s^jil is warm, or deferred until early in 

 March. Plant out 2| feet apart, and every 

 fourth year lift the plants and divide, keeping 

 the outside portions for your future stocks, and 

 replant in newly prepared ground- 



During the summer attend to staking in good 

 time, and should the plants make too many shoots 

 (after a couple of years' growth) tliin them out a 

 little, wh/in they will give much finer trusses of 

 flower. During dry weather they mast be well 

 watered, and a good mulch of short manure 

 pUu;ed around their roots 'to keep them cool and 

 retain moi.sture) at the end of .May. Oive liquid 

 manure and sfiot water once a week whf;n the 

 flower tru.ss*;s are developing. During the 

 fUnvering period remove all faded pips as they 

 appear, as it makes wa> for fresh ones to d^jvelop 

 and aLs'-j prolongs the display. When finished 

 flowering cut off old flower hea/ls, and another 

 di.splay may be had quit*; late in the autumn, 

 though not eqiial to the quality of the first. 



They may be propagated from cuttings taken 

 in spring or autumn, and utfjted in a sandy 

 compfjst in a cold frame, or by division of the 

 plants, which I consider to be the most satis- 

 factory method for imrneriiate effect. The 

 following are a sf;lection of well tried varieties, 

 which will grow well and give entire sati.s- 

 f action : — 



VAKIBTY 



" Sheriff Ivory " . 

 *' Gra^je Darling " 

 " l>- .Mahdi " . . 



■ Pharaon " 

 •' VVidar" . . . 

 HijnstrfKjm " 



COLOUR 



salmon. 



r<jse. 



reddish-violet. 



lilac-rnauve. 



I^arrna violet. 



salrnon-red. 



■■ Gruppen-konigin " . .satin r^jse. 



" Frau. A. Buchner " pure white, 



" Elizabeth Campbell " old rose, 



" Josephine Gerbeaux " white and crimson. 



"Iris" . , . , crims<^>n purple, 



" Clara Benzy " , . salmon pink. 



" Queen Alexandra " pale blue and rnauve 



(splendid). 

 " King Kdward Vll.'' crim.s^^jn. 

 " .Mrs. Oliver " . . salmon pink and white 



centre. 

 " George A- Strohlein " vermilion red. 

 " ftltna " . . . . crimson. 

 " .Mrs. .Jenkins " . . whit*. 

 " Fairy " . . . . salmon pink. 

 " Dr. Charcot " . . parma violet. 

 " Baron von Dedem " crimson .s<^:arlet. 

 " Countess of Ilchester " salmon pink, suffused 



orange. 

 " Eclaireur " . . . crimson purple. 

 " Gen. Van Ilenty " . scarlet and white 



centre. 

 " Henri Farman " . mauve. 

 " Lad> .Mary Hope " . coral pink. 

 " I^dy Stewart" . old rfme pink. 

 " Tapis Blanc " . , ['"^e white (dwarf 



gr^jwth). 

 "Selrna" .... salmon pink. 

 " Ixmis Blanc " . . claret r distinct). 

 " Violetta " . . niauve and white 



centre. 

 " Gorgeous "... salmon scarlet. 

 " Frau von I^ssberg " jmre white. 

 " Dr. Konigshofer ' . Sf;arlet. 

 " Flambeau " . . . brilliant red. 

 '• Derviche • silvery grey. 



