132 



IRISH GARDENING 



districts than in those from which Hme is ahscMit. 

 However, for garden jjiirposes, some of the 

 Ijroken colours are quite good enough for 

 decorative work, and many good varieties are 

 cheap enough to be renewed at intervals. Under 

 the distressing circumstances prevailing in 

 Europe at present there may be a shortage of 

 bulbs from Holland, but luckily in Ireland we 

 have several enterprising commercial growers 

 who can more than hold their own in jiroducing 

 Cottage and Darwin varieties, so that Ave may 

 cheerfully " carry on," relying on home supplies 

 to keep our gardens beautiful, and hope for more 

 peaceful days to return. 



With regard to varieties, these are numerous 

 in both sections, but, unless there is some 

 sjjecial reason for growing a big collection, far 

 more satisfactory results are obtained by growing 

 only a select few, and these in as generous a 

 quantity as can be afforded. Masses of fifty or 

 more bulbs will give a finer display when in 

 flower than numerous small clumps of six or 

 eight bulbs. Circumstances alter cases, how- 

 ever, and in the herbaceous border, which is also 

 thickly planted with perennials, it is possible to 

 grow a fairly large collection in small groups 

 and still get a good show ; the herbaceous plants 

 act as a foil to the co'ours and obviate what 

 Would otherwise be a medley. 



The depth and distance apart to plant must 

 be governed by the length of time it is intended 

 to leave the bulbs down. It will, of course, be 

 understood that a fresh bulb is fonned every 

 year, and consequently if left down the new 

 bulb has to pass through the winter without 

 having been examined, and flowering and non- 

 flowering bulbs come up together. To get a 

 good show of colour fairly thick planting is 

 usually practised, but for most Cottage and 

 Darwin kinds eight inches apart and five to six 

 inches deep will be suitable. There are some 

 kinds with small bulbs which may be planted 

 closer and shallower — viz., Bouton d'Or and 

 retroflexa, which will be better at, say. six 

 inches ajDart and four inches deep. 



It is an oj)en question whether a dwarf 

 carpeting plant should be used in conjunction 

 with Tulips. When planted in beds on lawns 

 it is, in the writer's o2)inion, an advantage to use 

 a suitable spring flowering plant as an edging or 

 groundwork. If means are limited for the 

 purchase of bulbs it is easy to raise a stock of 

 Violas, Aubrietias, Alyssum, Pansies, Myosotis, 

 &c., and by planting a broad edging of any one 

 of these and massing a Tulip of suitable colour 

 in the centre a very fine show is obtained at 

 little expense. As an alternative the carpeting 

 plant may be planted all over the bed and 

 the Tulips dotted lightly through, a practice 

 which finds favour Avith manv. Care must be 



taken in the arrangement of the colours to have 

 either a ])leasant contrast or an equally i)leasant 

 combination. 



In the Cottage section a fair selection of 

 moderate priced varieties would include Billie- 

 tiana, yellow; Bouton d'Or, deep golden yellow; 

 Caledonia, orange-scarlet ; Cassandra, cherry 

 rose ; Coronation scarlet ; Didieri, crimson, and 

 Didieri alba, white ; Elegans, crimson, Fairy 

 Queen, rosy heliotrope ; Fulgeas, vermilioji ; 

 Gesneriana, fine crimson scarlet ; Gesneriana 

 lutea, very fine full yellow ; Golden Crown, 

 yellow flushed orange-red ; Inglescombe Pink 

 and Inglescombe Scarlet, two fine varieties ; 

 La Merveille, salmon-rose, flowering late ; 

 Macrospeila, crimson and sweet scented ; Macu- 

 lata, a fine scarlet ; Mrs. Moon, handsome 

 yellow ; Picotee, white, margined rose ; The 

 Fawn, rosy fawn to blush rose. There are many 

 other equally fine varieties available in our 

 home nurseries and bulb grounds, and there need 

 be no trouble in finding sorts to suit all. 



A few good Darwins are Europe, salmon- 

 scarlet, shaded rose ; General Kohler, cherry 

 crimson ; Glow, bright vermilion ; Grand 

 Monarque, plum purple : Hecla, crimson-maroon; 

 Loveliness, satiny -rose ; Margaret, delicate blush ; 

 pink ; Farncombe Sanders, rose-scarlet ; Nautica, 

 dark cerise rose ; Pride of Haarlem salmon-ro.se. 

 shaded scarlet ; Psyche, rich rose ; Rev H. 

 Ewbank, silvery heliotrope ; Suzon, soft rose ; 

 The Sultan, almost black, and Wedding Veil, 

 blush white, shaded silvery lilac. 



The three blocks illustrating Cottage and 

 Darwin Tulips have been kindly lent to us by 

 Messrs. Hogg & Robertson. 



Obituary 



(lEORGE Dickson, J. P., V.M.H. 

 It is with the greatest regret that we record the 

 death of Mr. George Dickson at the age of 83. 

 In Newtownards and Belfast he was a promi- 

 nent and i)o])nlar iigure, and all Irishmen are 

 j)roud of the work he has achieved, for no man 

 living or dead has done more for the develop- 

 ment of the " Queen of Flowers " during the 

 last half century. The founder of the New- 

 townards firm has s])read the fame of Irish 

 Roses over the seas to the Continent, Amerira, 

 and other countries. During his life no fewer 

 than forty-six gold medals have been awarded 

 to the firm by the National Rose Society for 

 new seedling Roses, among them being Red 

 Letter Day, Margaret Dickson Ilaiuill, Edward 

 Hohane, Queen Mary, (ieorge Dickson. Mrs. 

 Foley llobbs, Mabel Drew, George C Waud, 

 Irish Elegance, «.S:c., while many of his Roses 

 raised twenty and thirty >ears ago are still 

 standard varieties. Until the day he died, 

 Mr. (Jeorge Dickson was wheeled in his chair 

 through the grounds to see the seedling Roses. 

 Two of Mr. Dickson's sons are already well- 

 known as Rose s]iecialists, while a third de- 

 votes his well-directed energies to sweet peas 

 and vegetcibles, Ace 



