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IRISH GARDENING 



R, H, S. of Ireland Spring 

 Show. 



This Show was held at the Hnyal Dublin 

 Society's premises, Ballsbridge, Dublin, on the 

 15th and ItUh of last month, and was favoured 

 by bright and sunny weather. 



The Show was a great success, and from the 

 gallery of the Main Hall a view was obtained of 

 the long rows of tables artistically decked with 

 all kinds of beautiful spring flowers. Of course 

 the Daffodils were the leading feature, but on 

 entering the hall the eye was riveted to a resplen- 

 dent table of crimson and various coloured 

 Amaryllis shown by Alderman Bewley, to which 

 a gold medal was awarded. Very tine pots ot 

 Mignonette attracted attention by its sweet 

 scent, while large pots of Dentzia crenata were 

 ])articularly good. The Schizanthus or Butterfly 

 flowers were well grown specimens, and the class 

 attracted keen competition, while the Azaleas and 

 Calceolarias gave a gorgeous s])lash of colour. 



DAFFODIL NOTES. 



Taking the Daffodil exhibits as a whole they 

 were well u]» to the usual standard at the Spring 

 Show, and, as regards condition, were far better 

 than last year, when, owing to the early season, 

 liractically all the blooms exhibited were i)ast 

 their best. 



In the amateur section Mr. J. L. Richardson's 

 (VVaterford) flowers in all the classes he entered 

 for were excellent. They were large, well 

 coloured, and of good substance, careful Ij^ grcmped 

 and well staged. In the class for Trumpets his 

 first prize lot with Weardale Perfection, King 

 Alfred and Glory of Noardwyk would have been 

 hard to beat. In this class Mr. C. W. Parr got a 

 good second with a very nice group. His Honor 

 .Judge Bird (Dundrum, Co. Dublin) taking the 

 third. 



In the Ardilaun Cuj) class, Major S. C. Hickman 

 well deserved the first i)lace, with Mrs. Hely 

 Hutchinson second and Captain O'Callaghan 

 third. 



The doubles were good, but there was nothing 

 new shown. Polyanthus classes were poor, 

 nearly all the flowers being very much past their 

 b?st. One of the best lots entered was disquali- 

 fied, presumably because there were more than 

 the regulation number of trusses put in one vase. 

 It is a great pity, but it is also pure carelessness 

 on the part of the exhibitor, that prizes are so 

 often lost through inattention to the rules. 



There were two trade exhibits, one froni 

 Messrs. Baylor Hart I and and one from Lissadell, 

 Co. Sligo. The former had a nice lot of stuff, 

 well shown. " Czarina," a huge Leedsii with a 

 beautifully frilled cup, was again striking. " K. H. 

 Beamish," a pale coloured trumpet with well- 

 shaped, substantial perianth is a good thing. 

 One of the seedlings named " Faction " seems 

 promising. But, on the whole, the seedlings at 

 this show were disappointing, and there is plenty 

 of room for improvement in the Poeticus section 

 and in the doubles. 



The Lissadell stand was not nearly as good as 

 last year, but the show in London on the same 

 days may have accounted for this, as probably 

 their best stuff went over to it. They had some 

 seedlings, a very nice Triandrus hybrid and a 



whiff trumpet, but we still want a white King 

 .Alfred, and let us hope when it does conae it 

 wi 1 have been raised in Ireland. M. C. 



ROSES. 



In the Rose classes the ('hallenge Cu]) (£10) 

 for Six Pot Roses was again won by Mr. H. S. 

 Guinness with well-balanced plants in perfect 

 condition of bloom and foliage, clean, liealthy, 

 vigorous, the blooms young and fresh, with 

 several more to come along : the second prize 

 going to Mr. F. A. Millar for taller plants, some 

 of which were not so suitable for this class and 

 slightly past their best ; Mr. Henry Dudgeon took 

 third prize. In the cla.sses for cut blooms, 

 Alderman Bewley captured the first ])rize in each 

 of the three classes, with blooms full of substance, 

 young and fresh, nearly all of which maintained 

 their form well into the second day of the Show, 

 a two-day show being a severe test of tlie quality 

 of cut Ro.ses. Mr. Edmund D'Olier was second 

 in each of these classes with some very excellent 

 blooms, but many of them were of varieties that 

 will not stand this test, and some of them were 

 flagging even before the Show opened. Mr. S. 

 Soden was third in the class for twenty-four blooms, 

 Mr. Henry Dudgeon third in the class for twelve 

 Teas, and Mrs. .James Talbot Power third for twelve 

 blooms of six varieties, in this box were some very 

 beautiful Roses, but the exhibit was spoiled by 

 two blooms which were completely over. Mr. 

 Edward Lee was reserved for a very creditable 

 selection. On the whole the Roses were not 

 quite u]) to the standard of the previous year, 

 when the comi^etition between the flrst and 

 second winners was much more keen, the blooms 

 being of a di-stinctly better quality in 1913 and 

 in such perfect condition that the decisions covdd 

 only be arrived at by taking into consideration 

 effective staging and greater variety of coloura- 

 tion. 



HARDY ALPINES IN PANS. 



The competition in these was unfortunately 

 limited to two entries only, Mrs. Greer, of Cur- 

 ragli (irange, again winning the premier award 

 with large pans of choice Al]>ines. The be.st of a 

 very good lot were Primula .Juliae ; P. rosea, very 

 tine ; Morisia hypogaea, well flowered ; Heli- 

 chrysum Ijellidioides : and Primula Forrestii. 

 Second honours fell to L. \'ernon with .smaller 

 pans, which, though bright, were inferior in 

 quality. It is a l)ity there is not nior(> competi- 

 tion in this class, as it is one of great ]io.ssib.lities. 

 There is room also for much improvement in the 

 quality of the Alpines exhibited. Mo.ssy Saxi- 

 frages and Aubrietias, tlioxigh showy, are hardly 

 worth the trouble when so many .si)ecies are 

 available, as, for instance, in the Primulas. 

 There should be little dilliculty in producing 

 pans of Primula ciliata su]>erba, P. ciliata jjur- 

 purea, P. hirsuta, P. pub 'scens alba, P. longi- 

 flora, so well .shown by Tully Nurseries. Wah- 

 lenbargias, too, would be available, as well as 

 several Ranunculuses, Draba dedeana, Andro- 

 saces, Saxifraga cochlearis, and several of the 

 Kabschia section. In fact there are ])lenty of 

 good things, easy to jjropagate and easy to 

 acquire at little ex])ense. In (Uass 5(1, for a col- 

 lection of 24 vases of hardy cut flowers, there 



