140 



IRISH GARDENING. 



Eryngium spinalba. 



More than thirty years a^o I was in search of 

 the true Erynginm spinalba. the best of the Sea- 

 hollies for its^ shape and ai)pearance. AH the 

 botanic gardens of the world sent me for it— 

 either the conxnion and very ugly E. cainpestris 

 or one of the forms of ■|)laii'im or of creticum. 

 I never found in any of the numerous gardeus I 

 visited the right and true K. spinalba, which T 

 only saw in the herbaria, and which I had myself 

 in mv own herbarium. 



So "I went last year to the South Dauphinji, in 

 a very disagreeable corner called Mont Auroze. 

 and, after a rather tiresome journey in the 

 desert, I found my plant, illuminating the country 

 just like elegant silver candelabras. It is a dwarf 

 ])lant, not exceeding niore than one foot in height 

 (l)erhaps two feet in some good soils), and per- 

 fectly white (in some cases bkiish-grey), and of 

 which the involucre is the most exquisite thing 

 I had ever seen. It is much more delicately cut 

 than that of E. alpinum (the best of all, after my 

 Dauphin^ find), and very hard and stiff. Those 

 who like the thistles will value it greatly, for it 

 is the best of all the spring thi.stles. 



I took a good lot of seeds of it. Sowed them at 

 once on my return home, and got, three weeks 

 after,* thousands and thousands of very good 

 l)lants. It has not yet flowered, but I hope it 

 will do next year. Then I shall send you a plant 

 to be drawn in your paper. — H. Correvon, 

 Geneva. 



The Dwarfest of The Brooms — 

 Genista Villarsii 



I ONCE found in the very hard rocks of the Verdon 

 Valley, in the north of the Var dei)artment, a 

 very dwarf and tiny i)lant, with an a])]>earance 

 like that of a creeping and low Eciuisetum. The 

 plant was hardly two centimetres high, and 

 seemed sometimes rather naore like a small moss 

 than a phanerogam. I tried to take it out of the 

 narrow crevices, and discovered it was a little 

 shrub of the Leguminosae family, but I could not 

 realise what it was, as the little twigs were 

 articulated (or seemed to be) like those of 

 Ephedra and of Equisetunx. I took some plants 

 with me (those I could get out of the rock, and 

 this was very hard), and when it flowered, I 

 found it was the rare and delicious little (Jenista 

 Villarsii, Clem (G. humifusa of Villars), one of 

 the rarest plants of the Ali)ine chain, a little gem 

 which is only to be found in the south-east of 

 France, in Dalmatia, and in Montenegro. It is 

 hardly an inch high when found in nature (some- 

 times, in good soil, of coux'se, it grows to 10-20 

 centinxetres), and keeps its dwarfness in culti- 

 vation. In .Tune and .July it is covei'ed with 

 yellow flowers, which adorn it beautifully. 



Its relative, Genista horrida, of South 

 Europe, is a beautifvil Broom too, but rather 

 tender and much taller than G. Villarsii. — II. 

 Correvon, Geneva. 



* This is to be noted and considered ; the Eryngiums are known 

 for being somi of the plants of which the seeds are th« most slow 

 and ditficult to germinnte but as I always wrote and said, if you 

 sow imm.diately after they are ripe the seeds of such difficult 

 plants to germinate, you can be sure tliat they will come uii at 

 once. H. C. 



Saxifrages or Rockfoils * 



The object of this book is lo help tlu! rock 

 gardener lo becoiuc ac((uain(ed with tlu^ most 

 im]jortant members of tin; family, to choose* the 

 best varieties and, having chosen them, to grow 

 them successfully. 



The authors are both well known by their 

 former works. The artistic half-tone reproduc- 

 tions from Mr. Malby's photographs are most 

 ])leasing, and many are inst I'uctive l)y showing 

 the site or position in which the plant should l)e 

 grown, while there are also some good coloured 

 rei)roductions. 



Mr. Irving has charge of the Kew colle(;tion of 

 Alpines, so is particularly well qualified to deal 

 with these plants. He informs us that there are 

 nearly 400 species — i.e., excluding the numerous 

 varieties and hybrids, the latter become still more 

 numerous and puzzling year by year. 



The Saxifrage family is botanically divided into 

 flfteen groups, an illustration of each type is given, 

 bvit a short description giving the characters 

 which divide these groups from one another 

 would have been of great help to the student. 



The tirst chapter tells us of the wide distribution 

 of the Saxifrage over the whole North Teniperate 

 Region and how Burser's Saxifrage starts 

 flowering in .January, other kinds following 

 closely, while Sax. FiU^tunei and Cortussefolia bring 

 up the rear, until their autumn flowers are cut 

 down by the frost. 



Chap. II. starts with Encrusted Saxifrages, giving 

 a description of each species and treating them 

 in alphabetical order, and so each different group 

 receives siniilar treatment in the following chapters. 



A useful chapter is written on the hyl)rid 

 Saxifrages, giving their parentage when it is 

 known. Mr. Malby then follows with " Saxifrages 

 in the Rock Garden," giving many valuable hints 

 on where to plant and how to grow these plants. 

 Mr. J. H. Salter, D.Sc, concludes with most 

 interesting notes on " Saxifrages of the Pyrenees," 

 and tells his readers that " Saxifrage Aizoon is 

 very nxuch at honae in the Pyrenees wherever 

 calcareous rocks prevail ; on the other hand, 

 S. Cotyledon need only be looked for upon 

 granite, while S. longifolia is just as emphatic in 

 sharing the preference of S. Aizoon." 



The lettei'])ress is clear and good, and this new 

 book should be helpful and instructive to all 

 rock gardeners. 



'* King Beech '^ in Knowie Park, Kent 



This remarkable tree has a bole 30 feet in cir- 

 cumference at 5 feet, and is about 100 feet high, 

 containing as much top as three or four ordinary 

 trees. The late Countess de la Warr, when re- 

 siding at Knowie, took the ])recaution of 

 having some of the boughs tied by iron chains 

 to guard against winds. The ground here 

 seems favourable to the growth of giants, for 

 there is an old oak about 300 yards west of the 

 King Beech which was known as the "Old 

 Oak " two and half centviries ago. It is sup- 

 ytosed to have been old enough to have shel- 

 tered barons and knights of the era of the elder 

 Plantagenets on their excursions across the 

 extensive forests of which this i)ark must have 

 formed a ])ortion. — Elyhia Ivikhy. 



• " Saxifrages or Rockfoils," by Waller Irvini; and Reginald A. Malb '. 

 F.R,P.S., published by Headley Bros., Bisbopsgate, London, 2s. 6a, net. 



