8o 



IRISH GARDENING 



not really dead. .S(_>iiie w ill turn yellow, st)nie brown 

 and, in a word, tlu\ will seem hopeless. Hut tlie 

 gardeuer should not despair; indeed, lie Jieed not 

 even be unhappy, as it will be found that nearly all 

 will root well and " perk uji ' after a time. 



E. T. E. 



Cobaea scandens. 



One of tho most beautilul annual eliml)ers intainly 

 is Cobrca scandens. A native .if Mexieo. Cnhnu 

 scandens derives its name from a Spanish priest and 

 botanist named Barnabas Cobo, who lived during the 

 ITth century, and who spent a groat deal of his life 

 - nearly forty years— in Mexico. He wrote a large 

 book of nearly ten volumes on the New World and 

 its history, but this work, unfortunately, never ap- 

 peared in print. About this time Cobeca scamhns 

 was introduced into Europe. In southern countries— 

 for instance, Spain — the Cobcea does not die in 

 winter and is a perennial. With us and in northern 

 countries we have to treat it as an annual climber, 

 and it can only be kept longer than one year if culti- 

 vated in a glasshouse or in pots which are placed in 

 winter in a frost-proof place. But as Cobaa scan- 

 dens "rows in one summer extraordinarily quick and 

 flowers very freely (old plants do not Hower very 

 well) and produces a lot of seeds, keeping it during 

 the winter is not necessary, and lots of trouble thus 

 may be saved. 



The bell-shaped flowers of Cobau scandens are 

 wonderfully fine and of a violet, sometimes of a 

 white, colour. These bell-shaped flowers are very 

 large, the bell often having a length of more than i'> 

 inches and 1^ inches across, hanging on a stalk of 

 12 inches. The calyx is constructed of five lai-ge 

 green-coloured leaves enclosing the beautiful 

 coloured petals. Outside the bell we find the pistil 

 and the stamens, in which we see the following 

 peculiar arrangement : — 



The pistil, here placed in the centre of tho flower, 

 is surrounded by five stamens, which are very much 

 longer. Now, to ensure that the pollen will not be 

 losC these stamens wrinkle and twist so that they 

 all come to the same length as the pistil. The 

 pollen now is not lost but is freely shod on the pistil, 

 and fertilisation takes place. Later on, when the 

 flower is withered (the calyx remains), we get a 

 beautiful large egg-shaped fruit surrounded by the 

 ealvx. These fruits, divided inside into three 

 parts (three cells) are like the flowers hanging on the 

 plants, making a very fine show. liach of tho three 

 cells is filled with numerous largo and flat seeds, one 

 laying on the other and arranged just like tiles on a 

 roof. As out of doors, these fruits almost never be- 

 come quite ripe, we treat them so as to have a 

 quantitv of good seeds for the next year as follows : 

 \Ye take the best fruits with their stalks as late as 

 possible from the plant— probably in tho month of 

 November. Now we fill a flowerpot, or something 

 like that, with very dry sand, in which we put the 

 fruits with their stalks in such a manner that tho 

 fruits are hanging over the edge of the pot. We 

 place these flowerpots in a dry place, where we have 

 a temperature of 15 degs. C. on an average. By the. 

 end of February wo open the fruit, which by keeping 

 has become very hard, and as the fleshy part of the 

 fruit is totally desiccated during tho winter we oasilv 

 remove the seeds, which are then quite ripe. 



Cobaa scandens is a surprising climber, reaching 

 by means of its tendrils in one summer a length of 

 more than 18 to 20 feet. Planted against a wall, it 

 i-overs in our sunmier an extensive area, but it is 

 much nicer to .see it twisting round a piece of rope 

 and making a beautiful thick and green garland 

 covered with numerous flowers. It also grows very 

 well against a tree, and when this is not too tall the 

 ('i)bu'a siRin reaches the top of it and then makes 

 l)i'autiful hanging garlands. Also for covering lattice 

 work, gates, ari)ours, etc., it is a very useful climber. 



The jilant flowers from the end of June until late 

 into the autunm, although the greatest number of 

 flowers appear in the month of August. We sow 

 Cobtca scandens in early spring, in tho month of 

 March, in a warm frame or hot-house, and 

 after germination we replant the young plants, each 

 into a small pot. As soon as they want a larger size 

 of pot we give them one, and tie the plant to a little 

 stick. Until mid-April we keep the plants in a 

 warm frame or house. Afterwards we begin to 

 harden them, and by the middle of May we bring 

 them out of doors and plant them in their place, giv- 

 ing a distance of 3 to 5 feet for each plant according 

 to the area they have to cover. 



Cob(C scandens grows in nearly every soil and m 

 every place. However, it likes much sun and heat, 

 and likes rich leaf-soil best. In summer, during 

 warm and dry weather, we have to water the plants 

 a good deal, otherwise in dull weather moisture is 

 its worst enemy. 



Cobcea scandens belongs to the order Polemonia- 

 ccie and a variety, Cobcea scandens alba marginatis, 

 is a beautiful variegated leaved plant with white 

 bordered loaves, and it may be said that no com- 

 bination of colours car> be seen so perfect and so 

 constant as witli tliis variety. It can be propagated 

 by cuttings. 



.J. VAX nKN Be1!G. 



Primula chionantha. 



This magnificent species of the nivalis section 

 was collected in Yunnan by Mr. Geo. Forrest at an 

 altitude of bet\veen 12,000 and 13,000 feet; there it 

 grows in open Alpine meadows. 



The specimen illustrated was grown by Mr. 

 H. D. M. Barton at the Bush, Antrim, and when 

 photographed the flower spike was 20^ inches liigh, 

 but it should be mentioned that it subsequently pro- 

 duced another tier of flowers above those seen in the 

 photograph. The leaves were 13 inches long. The 

 flowers are pure white and star-shaped, and in the 

 words of Mr. Barton, remind one of Anemone 

 narcissiflora. 



It appears to flourish in conditions such as suit 

 P. deniicidnia, viz., loam and humus in half shade: 

 tho leaves and spike are covered with yellow farina, 

 which adds to tho effectiveness of the whole plant. 



Allotments. 



Towards tlic end of the month sow seeds of 

 Cabbages. This is tho most important month in 

 the vear to sow, as it is from seeds sown now that 

 Cabl^ages for cutting are obtained next spring and 

 summer. Select a variety, like Flower of Spring 

 or Ellam's Early, as these kinds do not run to seed. 

 7'he seeds mav'be sown either in drills or broadcast 



