IRISH GARDENING 



83 



let it be the lowest on the shoot that you can 

 find for the present. Allow these both to grow, 

 and if forcing weather comes, and to all appear- 

 ances your crown bud is going to be too early, 

 remove it and let your side one come along. It 

 is a very difficult matter to treat on paper — 

 time and experience alone will help you. 



Get your shades out ready, for some buds are 

 very impatient of wet and must be gro\\ininder a 

 shade. Bessie Brown again is an example of this 

 class. Those shades 

 made by Jeffries, of 

 Colvin Road, Thorn- 

 ton Heath, London, pav, 

 very good and cheap. 

 They are most ingeni- 

 ous, and they are as 

 good as money will buy. 



The tying-up of 

 flower buds as they 

 begin to open is 

 another difficult job to 

 master. Berlin wool 

 (double for preference) 

 should he used. Make 

 the first half of an 

 ordinary knot only. 

 ]jass one end round 

 the other twice, pass 

 this over the shoulder 

 of the opening bud, 

 l)ut inside the petals, 

 and tie moderately 

 tight. This helps to 

 lengthen the bud and 

 keep its shajie. Care 

 must be taken not to 

 tie when any moisture 

 is on the flower. 

 Shading Roses acts 

 differently on different 

 flowers ; it enhances 

 some shades, but other 

 shades disappear. 



I'hotoby] 



Trke Fkkns at 



The 



Pentstemon Davidsoni. 



This is a rare and .sti-ikiiiyly l)c;nit it'iil plant, a 

 tiativt' of North Ameriia. 



Paying a vi.sit to the Kardcns at Ulaiidsrurt . 

 Abbeyleix, towards the end of .May, dis])t'lled 

 from our mind tlir doubt that the i>iant was a 

 "miff" or really (Uflicult to grow, for tlici-c, 

 ncstUng at tho foot of a hirgc rock, was a iiicr 

 l>iect', nearly a foot across. car])eting the surface, 

 of the ground witli small roundish leaves and 

 bearing many flowers, a})out 2 inclies in lengtli, 

 of a lovely coral ])ink. 



Before planting, Mr. liuiu inland made a fair 

 sized hole, about IS inches or 2 feet deep, and 

 (died the bottom S inches with broken pot for 

 drainage, and then tilled the hole with a compo.st 

 of loam, peat and grit ; the plant has been 

 grateful, and well repaid for the trouble taken by 

 its good health and a profusion of Ijloonis. 



New Delphiniums* 



Amoncst single-flowered Delphiniums the recent 

 trials at Wisley brought to light none to excel 

 Lizzie Van Veen, with its lovely Cambridge-blue 

 flowers of three inches diameter. Belladonna 

 grandiflora has flowers double the size of the 

 type and of the sanie lovely shade, whilst the 

 new Belladonna semiplena is a capital double- 

 flowered form whicli secured an Award of Merit. 

 Moerheimi (unanimous Award of Merit, R.H.S.) 

 is the best white, a splendid, variety with free- 

 branching stems, con- 

 tinuing in flower froni 

 June till Autumn. 

 Rev. E. Lascelles (A.M., 

 R.H.S.) is one of the 

 most striking novelties, 

 with double flowers of 

 a rich royal blue with 

 a huge wliite centre, 

 which is remarkable 

 even at a distance. 

 To the writer's taste 

 no new double variety 

 can comjjare with 

 Statuaire Rude ; the 

 colour is a fa.sciuating 

 shade of shot helio- 

 trope : the flowers are 

 nearly three inches 

 across, and are borne 

 on spikes with twenty- 

 eight inches of bloom. 

 Cymbeline is the bluest 

 of all singles, with 

 noble spikes of idtra- 

 marine blue flowers 

 with white centres — it 

 gained an Award of 

 Merit in 1912. Abso- 

 lutely ravishing is 

 Countess of Ilchi'ster, 

 with large single! flowers 

 of sky-blue : it is un- 

 doubtedlv utu'ivalled in 

 its shad'e. Of dark 

 varieties. The .Make 

 takes a leadiuu place, 

 bearing gigantic si)ikes 

 of rich blue semi-double 

 flowers with bold white 

 centres (.\wardof .Merit, 

 R.H.S.) Zu.ster Lugten. 

 with very rich aiul 

 striking Oxford-blue flowers, is si)lendid : iind 

 !>amartine, though not so new, is one. of the best 

 of all dark kinds, as every spike branches, and 

 there is an abuiulance of striking I*ru.ssian-blue 

 white-centred flowers which are good for cutting. 

 Darius is a new break, the flowers being of a good 

 pale prinu'ose siiadi- : it gained an .Vward of 

 .Merit in 1U12. .Mrs. .1. S. Bnuiton is a perpet ual- 

 llowcring and very beatitiful form of Hflladonna. 



^*' ^* t^^ 



'I'llK lat(! Dean Hole used to tell of a hale and 

 hearty man who, on reaching eighty years, 

 described himself as an " Octogeranium." Such 

 a descrii)tiou might well a)>iJly to the dardcncrs' 

 Magazine, which has arrived at the dignity of 

 eighty years, but continues as bright as ever. 

 To celebrate the; occasion it is renewing its youth, 

 and has reduced its price from twopence to one 

 penny per week. 



[6'. 5. W'aterlou- 

 GUOVK," KiLLINKY. 



