82 



TRTSH GARDENING 



Sedums from Malta ) Fuchsia procuiubens 



flowers and fniits each year m the rock garden ; 



that quaint Httle plant Othonna crassifolia 



spreads about the stones with its golden flowers 



dotted over it. 



In the desert garden (Mount Henry) are a 



collection of Aloes, most of which bloomed off 



and on since this particular garden was made in 



early spring, 1911. Aloe 



ferox showed a splendid 



head of flowers last year, 



and is shown in the illus- 

 tration ; two plants of the 



old man Cactus are quite 



happy, as are the various 



Echeverias, Cotyledons, 



Cacti, Phyllocacti, having 



blooms of various colours 



(one being a beautiful 



orange shade). Mesembry- 



anthemums grow almost 



too strongly, and have to 



be clipped in ; they all 



flower profusely, especially 



the only golden-yellow one 



I have ever seen. Sedum 



Stahlii is a fine plant. The 



prickly pears make a good 



background and grow 



apace. Even the Mexican 



Mamillarias seem quite a,t 



home; two of the five in the 



garden bloomed last year. 

 This desert garden has a 



frame over it during nights 



in winter, but is always 



open altogether in the day- 

 time, unless the rain is 



very heavy. At the end 



of March the lights are re- 

 moved till the fo'lowing 



November. 



This year I have planted 



here two Mimosas, and am 



in great hopes they will 



grow in this beautiful spot. 

 At the Grove, Killiney, 

 will be found Tree Ferns (in the heart of one a 

 thrush this year built her nest). Mimosa looking 

 healthy, Bambusa gracilis, B. japonica, Fan 

 Palms, the red-ribbed C-ordyline Banksii, Yucca 

 recurva pendula, various Magnolias, Fuchsias, 

 and a good collection of Eucalypti, comprising 

 the following varieties, all seemingly suited to 

 their surroundings : — Eucalyptus globulus (blue 

 gum), E. urnigera, E. amygdalina, E. coccifera 

 (with red berries), E. coriacea, E. viminalis (Avith 

 osier-like shoots), E. Gunnii, and the large-leafed 

 one, E. obliqua gigantea, E. tereticornis (having 

 cylindrical leaves). 



1 am in hopes that perhaps these notes may 



induce dwellers in this beautiful spot to try in 

 their gardens some of the plants I mention. It 

 makes gardening very easy when one has the 

 luck to live in a climate such as we enjoy. 



Roses. 



By Dh. O'Donel Browne. 

 June is always an interesting and busy month 

 for the Rose grower who 

 pays attention to his Roses. 

 If he intends exhibiting at 

 an.\' show during July he 

 must needjbestir himself, as 

 much of the preparation 

 for a show will now fall on 

 the worker's shoulders. 



Let him go over his trees 

 carefully as often as pos- 

 sible and check too many 

 lods from coming from the 

 base, and at the same time 

 lemove weak growths. 

 These in most Roses will 

 not give good large flowers. 

 [ know some of my readers 

 will take exception to this 

 treatment, as we are told 

 that removing too many 

 'growths and foliage is bacl. 

 Still the judicious thinning 

 of a tree does good in more 

 ways than one, for it allows 

 light and air into the centre 

 of the tree and it diverts 

 sap into proper channels. 

 Let the exhibitor, however. 

 be careful not to have all 

 the shoots carrying flower 

 buds all of the one size in 

 growth ; this means a great 

 show of flowers for a few- 

 clays and then no more. 

 It is odds that if you try 

 this method you Avill not be 

 strong for show day. I 

 think it is the hardest thing 

 in the world to time Roses 

 to a week or so. Weather, rain, absence of sun, 

 have all to be chanced, and it is too much to 

 leave to chance. 



Again, disbudding is most imjortant ; by 

 this I mean the careful and gradual removal of 

 the supernumerary flower ))uds on the point of 

 the shoots. In some cases you nuist remove 

 all save the crown bud, provided the crown bud 

 is perfect from all outward and visible signs of 

 blemish. Bessie Brown is a typical examjjle of 

 this kind. In other varieties such as George 

 Dickson, La France, and many others, to leave 

 only the crown bud means coarseness. It is 

 therefore a good plan to leave one side bud, and 



Photo hi/] [0. E. Low 



Aloe ferox in the open at Dalkey 



