100 



IRISH GARDENING 



siitis (izuiitti, Si'i'iiliii iniiiilniiiliiii. iiiiil soiiir ol 

 tlie Giuaiiias an- iiitfn'stiii<r at tlif pn s«iit lim. ■: 

 of tlu- latttT (f. Iiiinji.'oiiini and oim- willi wliitr 

 Howfis (naino unknown) seem tin- lianlitst. 

 1 iiiiiiiiiiit (Ejiiiioniiiiii) puiijii is a vij.'i)ious clinil)- 

 in-; jjen-nnial. just dcvi'lopinfj; its liandsoni*' ii'<l- 

 ])uri)lo HcnviT."-; it simmiis qiiiti' at lionic in tlif 

 niiUlcr ilistiii'ts of tiio roi.ntry — tliouiili chisst'il 

 as a stove plant in some liooks of reft'ifni-f. Tlu-io 

 is a ivniarkal)lf Holiyliock lu>n- with almost l.lack 

 sonii-doiil)U- Howfis. ;it li'ast of tlu" darkfst sliadi- 

 of l)rown conccivalilc. and only so scimi wlioii 

 viewed thronjrh the ii<:ht; it was raised from seed 

 whieh, 1 helieve. eanu" from CiMitral Asia, and 

 wiiii-li was very kindly sent me hy Mrs. Henry. 

 1 have never "seen exai-tly the same eolour on 

 any i)lant. Of .Veivnas. two are, or ought to he, 

 favourites. .1. Jim Itdiunii, whieh soon makes a 

 dense eari)et of iileasing light gnu'ii, and .1. 

 Soni-ZrliniiVi.r, a tiny sj)eeies witli eonspieuoiis 

 eriiu.son flowerets. There are others that are desir- 

 ahle, l)ut .1. oritlifoViti from Chile is to he avoided. 

 It si)reads with amazing rapidity, foreing its way 

 through rough grass and invading every i)laee. 

 even woodlands, wliere it is not wanted. Tt has 

 nothing to reeommend it e.xeept tlie leaf, hut it 

 is covered in summer with innumerahje sjjiky 

 1)iirrs, that get on one's elotius. aiul thai arc 

 very difficult to hrush away. 



Housing Tender Plants. 



When the days l>egin to shorten i)crceptil)ly. we 

 begin to make our plans for the housing of plants 

 for beautifying the greenhouse during tlie winter. 

 Some of the subjects have stJod out of doors for 

 months past, like Chrysanthemums; others have 

 been quartered in cold frames, and in respect to 

 these there is no inmiediate liurry, as, with a dro]) 

 in temperature, it is an easy matter to draw down 

 the lights and throw a mat over them. This api)lies 

 particularly to Primulas, Cyclamens. Solanum.-. 

 Cinerarias, Azaleas, Heaths, and other similar 

 subjects which eventually need the warmth of a 

 greenhouse to lure them into beauty. Risk of 

 housing should not, however, be run, as it is bettei' 

 to be a week too soon than one night too late. It 

 is sometimes dangerous to defer the placing of 

 plants under cover in mid-September, and many 

 have l)een the catastrophes with Chrysanthemums 

 all because of procrastination; the jirospects of 

 fine blooms, and the work of pi-eceding months 

 brought to naught simply through lack of fore- 

 thought and arrangement. It is not, of course, 

 possible to select a given date, and say, plants 

 must be housed then, as so nuicli depends on 

 weather conditions at the time, and also on the 

 district. In favoured localities one may often go 

 to the middle of the month before it is really need- 

 ful to l)ring the plants indoors, but, as we have 

 remarked, as the month creeps on, arrangements 

 ought to be well in hand so that a sudden dro{) 

 in the thermometer may find everything imder 

 cover of the greenhouse roof. 



After Housing. — When the plants are once in 

 the house it is important that special attention 

 should be given to their arrangement, and to 

 supplying air and moisture. If it is po.ssil)le to 

 give Chrysanthenuuns room to themselves it will 

 be found better to do so, rather than have smaller 

 plants interspersed amongst them, as these last 

 often fail to get the air and light which is so 

 essential to their proper development. In dealing 



with Chrysanthennnus ejieli nmst. oiiviously, he 

 guided by the sjiaee at his disposal. To arrange 

 iliem siiiisfactorily, it may of course bo necessary 

 III removi- the staging, or part of it, so as to ['t t 

 Ihi' puts on the groimd lev.-l. With smaller sub- 

 jects like those mentione<l. a staging is recpiired, 

 or, failing this, shelves in tlie roof, where they can 

 lie readily watered mid a watch kept over them. 

 It is no uncommon thing to sec i>lants llagging. 

 and looking less robust than they did a few weeks 

 jirior to housing them. This may be through an 

 insuflii'iency of moisture at the roots, but in many 

 cases it is due to lack of ail'. When it is remem- 

 bered that the plants have been enjoying " ojieii 

 air treatment "' all through the siiumier, then it 

 will be understood that to place them in a green- 

 house wheie little v<'ntilati()n is given, is not help- 

 lul, but positivi'ly harmful to them, and is not 

 calculated to promote a robust, healthy growth. 



Short of actual fro.st, it is undesiralilc to keep 

 the house warm; indeed, it is sometimes necessary 

 til even shade it some portion of the day in the 

 earlv aiiiumu during brilliant s>ni, and it follows 

 that tr.'c ventilation should i)e afforded too. When 

 the houst' is closed for the night, a little toj) ven- 

 tilation will often be found beneficial. Watering 

 iiught to be done in the early i)art of the day, 

 instead of at night, thus avoiding hurry to clo.se 

 tile house when the floors are in a " dripping " 

 condition, and tlu' atmosphere charged with mois- 

 tnic. We can do a very great deal for plants which 

 l)iinu s(. iiinch beauty to our greenhou.ses during 

 the ni'.Kt few months, by treating them in a rational 

 way and growing them under cool, airy con- 

 ditions, avoiding a close, stuffy aliiiosi)here. But 

 let our first consideration be, preparing space in 

 the house, so that when signs of chilly autumn 

 approaches, we may get the plants indoors, and 

 leap the reward of the flowers, which has been 

 our object all the summer — a summer that has 

 entailed much labour in the matter of watering 

 tlieiii. and in rendering them fit for their blooming 

 liinc. It is the.se small attentions that mean so 

 niucli lo winter and early spi'ing flowering subjects. 



Mi:rc.\ston. 



Funkias : Beautiful Plants for Shady 

 Positions. 



ri:i;-i:MiXKNCE is, gciici'ally s]. caking, given to the 

 sunny side of the garden, and plants which thrive in 

 the light and eomo to full beauty in time of hud and 

 blossom are studied and arranged for from the point 

 of view of colour effect and suitability. It is tic 

 " sunshine line " which ai)})cals to most folk. We 

 are constantly being reminded that such and sucli 

 plants " love the sun,'' and so it has come about 

 that the shady places in our gardens and their possi- 

 bilities of beauty are not thought out or considereJ 

 with tiic same degree of interest. 



iWit the place wliere the shadows fall for the 

 Irjugest, as well as the sunny quarter, may he mad :• 

 attractive, suggestive of coolness and quiet and rest- 

 fulness during the days of summer. Sometimes it 

 is the least inviting spot in a garden in the matter 

 of plants — the neglected and often uncared-for posi- 

 tion, whieh is the very test of the gardener's capa- 

 hintics. Just as some great landscape painter is 

 ai)lc l)y certain deft finishing touches on the canvas 

 to impart life and beauty to the scene, so the 



