IRISH GARDENING 



5S 



Sweet Peas well repay watering and feeding,^ so 

 some few remarks on these points may be of service. 

 To syringe them with cool water right over their 

 leaves and stems in the evening after a hot day is 

 a way to really encourage them. But water at the 

 root is wanted in dry weather. Watering should, 

 •of com'se, be done in the evening, and the soil 

 stiiTcd and hoed if it is not weed-free and in a loose 

 condition. It is then better able to hold the water. 

 Be liberal if you water at all, but let the water 

 soak in as you ijroceed. Feed once or twice a week 

 ^'ith liquid manure from horse droppings, or use a 

 solution rnade by dissolving one of the many 

 Standard Sweet Pea Fertihsers in water in the pro- 

 portions furnished with the same. Alternate as 

 usual one application of the liquid food with 

 several of clear water on the intervening days. 



The cutting of Sweet Peas for exhibition should 

 be in the evening, or most preferably in the early 

 morning. They should be Icept cool and in water 

 before the show and will then look fresh. 



Propagating Perennials. 



Many perennials, such as Doronicums, Lychnis, 

 Sedum sjycctabile, Campanula glomerata, Stachys, 

 Delphiniums, Erigerons, Phloxes, Pyrethrums, &c., 

 may be propagated in late May in the following 

 manner, this way being the only way of increasing 

 double flowers : — 



Choose a piece of ground which is slightly shaded 

 and fork it up lightly, throwing in old potting soil 

 and a little sharp silver sand to the depth of three 

 inches. Next get a small, low frame and white 

 wash the glass to shade the sunlight further. 



In May and June young basal shoots are thrown 

 up from the root stocks of the plants named, and 

 these should be cut off with a sharp knife below the 

 soil, or a])Ove the soil if need be, but in this last 

 the basal growths of Doronicums, &c., have httle 

 roots on them already if cut off in .a proper manner. 



Get as many shoots as required and, if they are 

 true cuttings, prepare as you would a cutting, by 

 slipping off just below a joint if possible. 



Peg these true cuttings into your bed of soil in 

 the frame quite firmly with a dibber, axid one must 

 be very careful not to hang them. If they have 

 little roots of their own plants with a trowel and 

 firm them well. Put them 3-6 inches apart. 



The parent jjlants must have the soil drawn up a 

 little, and they must be watered. Give the cuttings 

 in your frame a good soaking with a fine-rosed can. 

 Then put on the lights and keep closed for a few 

 days, watering when needed and sprinkling over- 

 head. Those that are not rooted will be the " .shy 

 ones," but even these Avill soon throw out roots 

 under this treatment. 



You will be able to see M'hen they are rooted 

 for they will begin to grow. When this happens 

 gradually innure them to air and sunshine, but 

 ehade them from the hot midday summer sun for 

 .sometime yet. 



If they grow very strongly (and strong growing 

 should in every way be encouraged by frequent soil 

 stirrings and by good supplies of water in the even- 

 ings), then it Mill be necessary to plant them out 



in nursery borders 6-r2 inches apart during the 

 summer months. They should be planted carefully 

 and watered well every evening some days after 

 I^eing replanted, and it is well to give a thorough 

 watering the night before, and • replant on the 

 following evening. No check should then result. 

 Keep the ground well hoed and stirred, and when 

 established only water if the weather be really dry. 

 They may then be planted in their permanent 

 quarters in the autumn, or may remain in their 

 nursing positions till next February or ^farch, 

 some slight protection being given them in cold 

 districts. 



Another waj- is to sow seeds of perennials in 

 -June or July, but this means of propagation is less 

 satisfactory, a longer period elapsing before good 

 plants are obtained. I recommend the above method 

 with every confid^ce. 



Spuene. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



liliododciidron hippophncoidcs. 

 This little known species is doing well at Glasneviu, 

 where Rhododendrons are not easily gTOMm owint; 

 to hme in the soil and exposure to wind. It is now 

 about two feet high and well branched. The younger 

 branchlets are slender and furnished with yellowish 

 scales; the thickish leaves have short stalks and 

 are dark green and scaly on the upper surface; pale 

 greenish yellow and densely scaly below; rather 

 over an inch long and about a third as wide. The 

 blue flowers are borne in terminal heads of six to 

 seven, and as they are freely produced and unusual 

 in colour the effect is quite pretty. 



The species was discovered by Mr. Kingdon 

 Ward, who sent home seeds to Mr. A. K. Bulley 

 from China, and a little later by Mr. Geo. Forrest, 

 who also found the plant in still later journeyings. 

 In all cases the plants were growing at altitudes 

 above 10,000 feet. This species is apparently quite 

 hardy, and will be useful on large rock gardens and 

 for beds. 



RliDdodcitdruit ravum. 



Intkoduced from Yunnan by Mr. Geo. Forrest, this 

 is a stronger shrub than R. hippophxoidcs, witli 

 stouter branches and fewer of them. The leaves, 

 too, are larger, being up to two inches long and 

 three quarters of an inch wide, rounded at the apex 

 with a short, blunt mucro, and tapered from the 

 middle to the stalk; dark green and scaly abov, 

 paler and scaly below. The flowers are produced 

 in clusters of four to five in the axils of the terminal 

 leaves, and so close together as to form a head of 

 six or seven clusters. The flowers are rosy Ulac in 

 colour, nearly like those of R. rubiginosum but with- 

 out the spots and with shorter stalks. The plant 

 figured herewith was presented to the Glasneviu 

 collection by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, 

 as a small seedling in 1917. 



A notable difference between tliis species and R. 

 hippophfroidcs lies in the power of the flowers to resist 

 frost. Several times while both were in flower in 

 mid April from 4 degrees to 8 degrees of frost 

 occurred, utterly destroying the flowers of R. ravum. 

 while those of R. hippophxoidcs were untouched. 



J. W. B. 



