IKISH GARDENING 



147 



Straffan* 



its own, with 

 years under the 



With a character pecuharly 



gardening going on over long 



higher — even, we venture to say, the highest — 



exposition of the gentle ai"t, grasped ]>y the same 



ministering hand, lies the beautiful home of 



Bertram H. Barton, Esq., far from the madding 



crowd, in quiet Kildare. 



If we seem to sin in our high estimate of 

 StrafTan — its gardens, its grounds, its altogether 

 — We sin in good company, and take comfort in 

 the thought that our opinion was endorsed and 

 more lox-ingly expressed by the late Mr. Biu-bidge : 

 '■ StrafEan is one of the most hospitable of 

 gardens, all 

 things beauti- 

 ful are wel- 

 comed there. 

 Tt may be a 

 rare Feni, or a 

 curiousOrchid, 

 or a little gem 

 from the Alps 

 or Pyrenees, a 

 new vegetable, 

 or a finer fruit ; 

 the best of care 

 and culture are 

 freely given, 

 and in few gar- 

 dens, even if 

 more favoured 

 in some ways, 

 are better re- 

 sults obtained. 

 . . . One 

 could say 

 much more 

 than this, for 

 in all truth the garden atStraffan is an ideal 

 one." 



Of such, then, is gardening at StrafEan, and 

 therein its secret of success. It is not easy to 

 pen the notes on »Straffan we have been invited 

 to do, for in one's anecdotage memories crop up 

 thick and fast, and going back as they pretty 

 well do to that last great conflict twixt France 

 and Germany, a book would scarcely contain 

 them ; salient features Avith our two last visits 

 must suffice. We could not if we Would, nor, 

 indeed, would not if we could, leave I^affodils 

 out of any Straffan notes — Daffodils which from 

 the modest plantings first seen have iioW run in 

 their millions over the lawns, down to the river's 

 brim, and somehow have migrated to the 

 " brim " beyond. 



Photo l>i] 



" They're there at rest,"' said our old friend, 

 with a significant prod of his foot, as again We 

 two old boys ambled together over the smooth- 

 shaven lawn. And they are there sure enough. 

 We might say Daffodils are the feature of 

 Straff an were it not that go when you will, even 

 as we have gone under the threat of "" nothing 

 to see," each season seems to provide the feature. 

 Last year we caught them at their best — great 

 colonies of Emperor, running amok — as Emperors 

 are prone to run — Empress, Horsfieldii, Sir 

 Watkin, Barrii, Victoria, Madame Plemj), Glory 

 of Leiden, Nelsoni major, and other commis- 

 sioned ones of the great army blowing their 

 trumpets to the tune of magni, medio, and parvi, 

 sounding such a dominant note as to carry its 



echoesfarand 

 wide {vide 

 press notes) ; 

 but, and alas ! 

 the Jap. 

 Maples, at 

 one time the 

 glory of this 

 part of the 

 grounds, and 

 colouring su- 

 perbly at this 

 season, suf- 

 fered all but 

 to the death 

 from the sav- 

 agery of last, 

 late Mav. 



AH this is 

 nearMr. Bed- 

 fords house, 

 where the 

 near lawn- 

 sweep dis- 

 covers some 

 grand specimens of gold mi Cypress in variety, 

 and the soft, rich, dark-hucd Prunus Pissardi, 

 not hard and ding.w as often seen, acts as a foil. 

 On the wall at hand a tall, Avide-si)read Escallonia 

 floribunda (montevidensis) is very beautiful this 

 early autumn day in its fast opening heavy crop 

 of blossoms, another notable wall subject being 

 the veteran Ciesal[)inia japonica, and still Koel- 

 reuteria bipinnata claims attention. In a 

 border at hand we note the very distinct and 

 ])retty, so-called annual, Diasc^ia Barberae, a 

 good tem])ered little thing producing a profusion 

 of its ■■ chamois-rose '' flowers the season 

 through ; here it has been in existence for three 

 years, but be it annual or perennial it is decidedly 

 worth having. 



A wider herbaceous l)order facing the Avest, 



Dull/ill. 



The Liffey ix Htkaffan Demesne. 



