IRISH GARDENING 



43 



Viburnum Carlesii. 



This deciduous species is one of the most charming 

 spring-flowering shrubs. It forms au open bush but 

 freely branched, and when in flower in April and 

 May' is an object of much beauty. The leaves from 

 one to three inches long are rather less in width 

 and are unequally toothed on the margin. The 

 flowers, which are formed in autumn in round 

 clusters, do not expand until spring. The buds are 

 pink but the flowers become white as they open, 

 are of a Avax-Uke texture and dehciously scented. It 

 appears to like a fairly rich, moist soil. B. 



in the ground through the winter, and if the young 

 shoots are well thinned out during summer a good 

 display may be enjoyed; but undoubtedly the best 

 way is to jjropagate young plants each spring. This, 

 as every gardener knows, is easily done by bringing 

 into a warm greenhouse or frame, roots which had 

 been Ufted last autumn and kept dry and free from 

 frost during the winter. Young shoots are soon pro- 

 duced, and these, when three or four inches long, 

 are removed with a thin slice of the old tuber ad- 

 liering, and inserted singly in small pots filled with 

 a sandy compost. Placed in a close case in a warm 

 greenhouse or frame, and shaded from bright sun, 

 they will root in aljout three weeks, and may then 



Viburnum Carlksii, 

 Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. 



Dahlias. 



The Dahlia has long been a popular summer flower, 

 and never more so than at the present time. 

 Formerly it was largely grown for exhibition pur- 

 poses, the old stiff, double-flowered, show varieties 

 and the cactus-flowered forms being particularly 

 favoured by exhibitors. A certain amount of stiff- 

 ness was a character of these garden creations, and 

 this made them rather unpopular with many garden- 

 ing people, who preferred lightness and good colour 

 to scattered blooms of show standard. For this 

 reason Dahhas were frequently not made as much 

 use of in many gardens as they might have been, 

 and, as a matter of fact, now are. 



The old show varieties, with their clumsy, heavy 

 blooms, and many of the " Cactus " varieties, with 

 the flowers hidden among the leaves, have given 

 place to a finer race of garden varieties, such as the 

 Paeony-flowered, the Collarette, beautiful singles and 

 dwarf Pompons. The latt(>r, though somewhat 

 stiff, flower so freely that they are invaluable where 

 masses of summer and autunm colour are required. 



In some mild localities the old roots may be left 



be potted on into five-inch pots in a somewhat 

 rougher compost of loam, leaf-soil or old hot-bed 

 manure, with a dash of coarse sand to keep the 

 compost open. Towards the end of April and early 

 in May they may be transferred to a cold frame, 

 which "^ean be protected from late frosts, keeping 

 them fairly close for a week or so, thereafter ad- 

 mitting air more or less freely, according to the 

 weather, until towards the end of May the lights 

 may be left quite open and the plants thus 

 thoroughly hardened off for planting out in June. It 

 should be the aim of the grower to have the young 

 plants as big and strong as possible at planting time, 

 so as to ensure early blooming, otherwise it will be 

 so late in the year before there is any display that 

 only a few weeks may elapse ere frost brings it to 

 a close. Many growers have stocks mcII in hand 

 now, and no time should be lost in getting the 

 ]iumber required. Those who have no stock plants 

 should place theii' oiders with the nurseryman now 

 to ensure getting good plants early, so that they 

 may be pottrd on and hardened off for planting at 



the proper time. 



Dahlias can be used effectively in many ways : — 



