IRISH GARDENING 



Rock Gardening for Amateurs.* 



Having edited many gardening publications. 

 Mr. H. H. Thomas now presents the gardening 

 public with a new book entitled " Rock Gar- 

 dening for Amateurs." It is distinctly a book 

 for anxateurs, and in this respect it certainly 

 answers the piirpose, but it will hardly satisfy 

 the connoisseur of Alpine plants and rock gar- 

 dening. 



The book is divided into four distinct parts, 

 the first dealing with "' making, planting, and 

 tending," where the directions are clear and 

 distinct, but the author very rightly adds that 



known plants, and gives a short descrii^tive note 

 of some of the most useful s])ecies of'the various 

 genera. The last part of the book is a descriptive 

 list of the best kinds to grow, divided into sections 

 — those that like or dislike lime, those preferring 

 |>eat, those that may prove tender in certain 

 localities, plants for pools, plants with grey 

 foliage, prostrate ])lants, as well as lists of idants 

 in distinct colours, those suitable for moraine, 

 and those that are evergreen. There is an excel- 

 lent index to the bool;. by which uieans the in- 

 formation sought can b' readily found, and the 

 coloured and black and white ])lates are remark- 

 ably good. H. M. P. 



fhofn by] 



The Rock Gakdp:x in May at Mount ITenry, Dalkky. 



f(;. /■;. Low. 



" books can only put the reader in the right way." 

 wliich is perfectly true. Ciardeners look to books 

 for this very reason, but no amount of book 

 learning will ever nuike a gardener : the ty^je can 

 be considerably improved, l)ut a start must be 

 made with the genuine article. In tlie second 

 ■I)art — " The charm of vaiiety " — the moraine is 

 dealt with, and we get in a imtshell the ])osition, 

 how it is made, com])ost, when to ])lant. and the 

 favourite moraine i)lants. To the latter list a 

 good many more might have been added. The 

 chapter on rock borders is encouraging, for there 

 is ])lenty of rooni for this class ot gardening. In 

 dealing with the wall garden the intormatioii is 

 excellent as far as it goes, Init the author might 

 have given a good deal more advice on tlu- 

 question of seed sowing and planting in tlie wall. 

 The third part, entitled " Indispensable Rock 

 Garden Flowers," deals with the various well- 



* •• Rock Gardening for Amateurs." By H. H. Thomas. 

 Price 6s. Puhiished t>y Messrs. C'assoU & Co., London. 



Eremurus robustus. 



This stately Liliaceous plant is far too seldom 

 seen in gardens, but wherever grown it forms, 

 when in full bloom in June, a most striking and 

 conspicuous object. A native of Turkestan, it is 

 endowed with long and fleshy roots in shape like 

 a huge starfish, and tbert'forr slu)ul(l he i)lanted 

 in deep, rich soil. The leavis, which jiush through 

 the ground in early March, are of a shining green, 

 sword shai)ed, being, when fully grown, some 

 3 feet long and 3 inches broad. The stout flower 

 stem reaches a height of from 6-10 feet, of which 

 the ui)i)er 3 or 4 feet is covered with tajiering 

 spikes of rosy pink flowers, each about 2 inches 

 acro.ss. Eremiu-us robustus is best i)lanted in 

 groups, and such a group whtni in flower is a 

 magnificent spectacle, not readily forgotten. 



Seed is i)]entifully ripened, but as it takes a 

 seedling about five years to attain flowering size, 

 division of the rootstocks is frequently i)ractised 

 in preference. 



