IRISH GARDENING 



89 



Magnolia conspicua superba. 



Kxowx as the Yulan. this beautiful hardy shrub 

 or small tree conies from China, and in April and 

 the early i>art of May bears flowers in the gi'eatest 

 profusion. 



The typical form bears large snowy-white 

 flowers, and grows froni 15 to 30 feet high. Mr. 

 E. Sutton kindly sends us a i)hoto of that line 

 variety — Magnolia consi)icua superba — growing 



Hints to Novices 



Hy May Ckosbik. 



By the beginning of this month all the s])ring 

 bedding stuft" will be over and the beds will want 

 digging. If the ground was manured in the 

 autumn it will not want any now, but the 

 addition of wood ashes or old potting soil will be 

 a great hel]) to the ])lants. If the summer 

 bedding plants have been raised in the garden lift 

 them from the nursery beds with a good ball of 

 soil and plant firmly, watering them in well. 



PhdO hll] 



^Magnot.ta roxspicuA superba, 

 10 feet high, at the (Jardens, Kilkenny Castle 



in the gardens at Kilkenny Castle, and writes : — 

 " The ])lant is against a wall facing S.S.W.. about 

 10 feet high, and was ])lanted about twelve years 

 ago. You will see by the enclosed photo how 

 well it looked this season." 



There are several hybrids from the Yulan and 

 M. obovata, such as Magnolia .Soulangeana, 

 with similar flowers to the above, excei)t 

 that the flowers are i)ur])le-tinted, and a 

 still deei)er coloured form is known as M. 

 Soulangeana nigra. Magnolia Lennei is another 

 hybrid from the same parents with extremely 

 arge flowers. 



Magnolias are impatient of root disturbance, 

 and like a moderately good soil of a free and open 

 nature. 



If the weather is dry they will require to be well 

 watered every secctnd evening until they are 

 quite establisiied. It is always wise to keep a 

 few of each kind in reserve to replace any tliat 

 fail or come untrue to colour. 



If the Tuli]) foliage is still green when they are 

 lifted, they must be heeled in a shady place to 

 mature. When the foliage has turned brown, the 

 bulbs may be lifted, dried in a shed, and stored 

 till planting time in the autumn. 



I'olyanthus and Primroses, even if they are in 

 a periiianent place in the border, ought now to l)e 

 lifted and replanted, as when the clumps get too 

 big they never flower as well. Every second year 

 is often enough to divide them. When the 

 clumps are lifted the new roots will be noticed 



