IRTSH GARDENING 



39 



Another sweet-scentecT, shrub also in flower was 

 Chionanthus virginica. Philadelphus purpureus 

 maculatus is a really pretty foliaged shrub. 



Cotoneaster Franchetii in flower and with its 

 pretty arching grey-leaved stems is a distinct and 

 pretty shrub. Mitraria coccinea nestles by the 

 towering giants Wellingtonia gigantea, Abies 

 Menziesii, and Thuya gigantea. 



The outdoor fernery at Fota is more like a 

 New Zealand forest scene than a bit of Irish 

 gardening. A group of twenty tree ferns — 

 Dicksonia antartica — raise their fronds on stems 

 ([uite ten feet high, and are. moreover, supremely 

 happy, both summer «.nd winter, with the 

 natural protection of the forest trees which are 



its giant leaves, while Phormium tenax Veitchii, 

 P. t. pendula and the Powerscourt variety in 

 big groups lend their help in making a pretty 

 tropical effect. 



Dacrydium Franklini, a rare shrub, is climbing 

 up to tree form, while that beautiful evergreen 

 beech, Fagus Cunninghamii, has reached a height 

 of 45 feet, and retains a lovely symmetry. A few 

 fine specimens of Secjuoia sempervirens — the 

 Californian Redwood — tower in stately splendour 

 90 feet in the air, and that rare shrub. Circidi- 

 phyllum japonicum, grows happily close by these 

 giants ; and beautifully set in another corncp 

 adjoining the water and the forest is a group of 

 Dogwoods — Cornus brachypoda variegata, C, 



The Foioiat, (iakdex at Fota, with Coudylinks ovek ."{<» feet high. 



judiciously ])lanted in and around this picturesque 

 groiip. Their smaller brethren are ])lanted 

 amongst rocks, and comprise such things as 

 Woodwardia radicans, Lomaria magellanica, 

 Asi)lenium i)olyi)hyllum, Adiantum Capillus 

 Veneris, and many other varieties of both Hritish 

 and gi'conhouse ferns. 



Passing from this delightful and cool i'(>treat , 

 in summer, a stretch of ornamental water is 

 reached : on an island covered by a jungle of 

 bamboos such varieties as Arundinaria Falconeri, 

 A. racemosa, A. nobilis, Phyllostachys Quilioi, 

 P. fastuosa, and P. viridi-giaucesccms being 

 noted all in luxuriant growth. The lake's surface 

 is cov<;red by numerous varieties of Nymi)ha^a. 

 many of Marliac's hybrids being quite at home. 

 Hy the water's edge Gunnera manicata disports 



Mas variegata, ('. Kousa, ('. Spalhii, &c., being 

 noted. 



Leptosi)ermum Chapmanii and (Jrevillea ros- 

 nuirinifolia thiive admirably under the shadows 

 of such ('onifers as Abies mimidica. A. aJaiKMisis, 

 A. bi'actciila, A. lirma. Thuyj()|isis doiabi'ata, 

 and last, (hat glorious Pinus .Mont t'/unuv. This 

 Pine has been my idol whenever Fota was visited ; 

 it is probably t lu' finest specimen in the United 

 Kingdom, roughly measuring 50 feet in height 

 . nd covei'ing a large area with its huge and well- 

 furnislied branches. Quite a dift'erent Pine is 

 I*. ])arvifl(»ra, which thrives well here. Podo- 

 carjtus chincnsisand P. Totarahave positions near 

 Abies Pindiow, while Abies Albert iaiia and Abies 

 Webbiana join liands with C'ryi)tomeria arau- 

 carioides and C spiralis. Liriodendron tulipi- 



