74 



lUlSii GARDENING 



Coiinvi 



•:r at ^ilolNT IsiiK 



lioliiit't-shaped little flowers cover the whole plant 

 and make a very pleasing eftect. Avdrofsacc (jcrani 

 folia has taken a " hoult " in the new garden, car- 

 peting the ground and climbing into the low shrubs 

 in the most persistent manner. The small star-like 

 white flowers are very pretty; the whole plant is so 

 light and delicate it does no harm. It is usually 

 seen grown carefully in a pot ! There are Alder 

 trees in the new garden, which in winter and spring, 

 when their buds' are a lovely purple, give great effect. 

 Their stems are already clothed with climbing plants 

 —clematis, vines, Loniceras. 



Schizandra rubriflora discovered by Mr. \Vilson in 

 \Yestern Szechuan in 1908, is, so far, the most orna- 

 mental of the genus. Climbing up an ash-tree, its 

 dull green leaves act as a foil for the rich red flowers, 

 which have fleshy petals and are like miniature ^lag- 

 nolias. They are very numerous and hang down- 

 wards on long slender stems, justifying its jiosition 

 on the ash-tree, underneath which a good view of its 

 charms can be seen. It should prove hardy in our 

 climate, as it comes from an altitude of 6,000 to 

 7,000 feet. It belongs to the :^^agnolia family. 



Azara microphylla varicgnfa which smells as 

 sweetly in early spring as its green parent, looks like- 

 pure gold in the sunshine. This big spreading plant 

 is a child of the late Mr. W. E. Gundileton's original 

 plant at T3elgrove, Queenstown, 



I'niiniM chiuctism, which the late Mr. deorge and 

 Mr. Kdwurd WulpoU importid with a number of 

 iduiits from the Yokohnma nurseries many yiars ago, 

 is a very lovely hhrub, with l)right pink double 

 tl(iwei*s. ' \'iburnuiii inunifolia a tall, elegant decidu- 

 Miis shrul), about I'l feet liigh, with siruHith bark, 

 nddisli in the young twigs, smooth, oval leaves, 

 imler green l)elo\\ ," flat heads of flower, wliite, rather 

 like those of Laurustina. A native (A N.K. America, 

 it is quite hardy. 



The lovely .\yrshire rose lias flung itself over a 

 Yew hi'dge, its vtiy (bin braiielns twining them- 

 selves like st-.ut string tln-(.u;,'h the hedge. It is 

 armed with wicki'd hooked prickiis, a contrast to its 

 beautiful white flowers, which unfortunately liave 

 little fra^,'ranee. 



Sft}itic-rlf (•rt»///«//M//(jf«. -This shrub is a native of 

 ('liili, and is not hardy. It has small oblong leaves 

 'if a (hill t,Meen. The flowers are labiate-like, of a 

 soft pale blue. It stands the winter at Mount I'sli-^r 

 }inirliii<il(illis n 11(1)1(1(1 has been a tantalisjiij.' plant 

 In many gardeners. It evidentlv has idiosMieracies 

 which we do not understand. Those who have seen 

 a good plant flowering well have been always 

 anxious to establish it — and many have struggled in 

 vain. The truth is, it seems to grow well only under 

 certain exceptional conditions, and far from being 

 L'enerally hardy, it is distinctly tender. It has a 

 |iarticular aversion to cold winds, draughts, and lime 

 in the soil. In » mild climate and a warm soil it 

 1- a really beautiful and distinct plant, especially as 

 it is evergreen, with fine large leaves, which when 

 iuUy developed are shining green above white, 

 l)lanket-lik<>, underneath. They are deeply indented. 

 I saw it in flower many years ago at Castlewellan, 

 (o. Down. The late Lord .\nnesley figured it in his 

 hook, '■ IVautiful and Rare Trees, Shrubs, and 

 Plants." I have also seen it in flower in the famous- 

 collection of iSir John Ross of Bladensburg at Ro.s 

 trevor. But by far the best specimen I have seen 

 is that from which the accompanying photograph 

 was taken. It was growing against a wall in a small 

 enclosure at Mount I'sher, part of two sides of which 

 it covered, 8 feet high. In its young May growth 

 stems, leaves, and young growths were covered with 

 white tomentum. The dense panicles of flower were 

 1ft inches long, 12 inches through, and hung in droop- 

 ing graceful trusses beyond the leaves, after the 

 manner of the old-fashioned plant we all knew as 

 Spircea aria- folia, and which, we are now told, we 

 must call Spirca discolor. 



Thc' individual flowers are very small, and are 

 closely crowded together. This plant has been called 

 at different times Eurybia Cunninghamii and Senecio 

 Forstcri. It is a native of New Zealand. 



Rock Plants. 



(Continued.) 

 Of Candytufts or Iberis a good many names will be 

 found in catalogues, but it will usually be found that 

 most of them will turn out to be /. senipcrflorem, 1. 

 Hempcrvirens, or varieties of these species. They 

 are all easily grown and showy rock plants, soon 

 making gorid masses, but /. semperflorena is dis- 

 tinctlv less robust and less striking than the latter, 



