IRISH GARDENING 



113 



sets in. Many of the Salvitis are, moreover, autumn 

 flowering, and are worth a trial; S. Grahami, S. 

 GreifjUy^H. neurepia are red of various shades, but 

 the most brilliant and the Ijest is S. Pittcri, which 

 has lived outside here, but is unfortunately more 

 tender than those just named; S. BetheVi is also 

 half-hardy, pink, it has survived outside biit one 

 cannot be sure of it. The Ijlue species are mostly 

 herbaceous and seem hardy; the well known S. 

 patena is always a favovnito, and so are .S. ntchrii 

 and .S. uliginosa to those who cultivate them. Two 

 trees deserve a passing word : Acer rcticulatum 

 from China, with very beautiful and distinct 

 foliage, and the more common Euonymus latifoUus 

 now covered with its conspicuous fruit. 



AmanjUis Belladonna, some of the forms of 

 Colchicum, Lilium speriosum, and the Burmese 

 L. sulphureum have never been more luxuriantly 

 floriferous. Kaemanthus puniccus from the Cape 

 of Good Hope, has been outside for some years and 

 flowered there for the first time. But Veratrum 

 riiide was poor; and Cypella Rerheiti, an inter- 

 esting bulb from Buenos Ayres, was a disappoint- 

 ment, having failed to open its curious chrome 

 tinted Iris-like bloom, contrary to the regular 

 behaviour of these bulbs in the past. The same 

 may be said of Albuca Xelsoni, from South Africa, 

 all the energy of the plants of this species seems 

 to have gone into growth, and no flower-spikes are 

 visible. Eucomis pinHtfita, on the other hand, 

 was unaffected by weather conditions. Some of 

 the white and pink Cyclamens are beginning to 

 show up well. Antirrhinum Asarina, which rambles 

 over rocks, forming a carpet, is a very pleasing 

 object at this time; and the trailing And rosace 

 lanuQinom serves to brighten the moraine bed. 

 Lysimachio Henryi, yellow, the handsome Thalic- 

 tiiun TJelarnyi, and the Japanese Kireiujislioinn 

 palmata, yellow, which forms a compact bush, and 

 is a very distinct species, are now in flower — the 

 last two later than usual, I think; while Physalis 

 F ranch eta is resplendent with red fruit, which 

 look like diminutive Chinese lanterns. 



J. R. OF B. 



A Witch's Broom Elder. 



One of tlie best " posers "' in my garden is a 

 herbaceous-looking tuft, some 3 feet across and a 

 foot high, bearing the leaves of an Elder set on 

 innumerable short, thin branches. It is, as a 

 matter of fact, a diseased state of the Samhucus 

 nigra. Some years ago Mr. E. A. Bowles noticed 

 upon a common Elder a " Witch's Broom " — one 

 of those curious nest-like, twiggy tufts that are 

 so familiar on the Birch. These clusters,, as is 

 well known, are caused by attacks of minute 

 fungi of the section Ascomycetes. The fungus 

 lives parasitically in the tissues of the tree, and 

 the irritation caused by its presence results in the 

 production of numerous attenuated branches, on 

 the leaves of which the fruiting organs of the 

 fungus may be seen frequently as a kind of down. 

 Mr. Bowles took a portion home for examination, 

 not having previously seen an Elder so affected, 

 and subsequently put the pieces in as cuttings. 

 They grew freely, as did cuttings that I took from 

 the plant in his garden. The fungus continues to 

 infest the plant, so that it ntver forms more than 

 a tuft, and never flowers. 1 am not aware that 

 this pathological condition lias been thus per- 

 netuated in any other species which is affected 

 by " Witch's Brooms " : information will be grate- 

 fully received. 



R. LI. P. 



Flowers that Bloom in the Gloom 



Growers of flowers are sometimes apt to regard 

 the sunshine as indispensable to the development 

 of their favourites, and overlook the fact that 

 when the sunlight has faded, there are other 

 blossoms which open wide their petals in the 

 hours of twilight and of darkness. Numerically, 

 they are not many, and some of them are not par- 

 ticularly beautiful; but what they lack in this 

 regard they make up in another direction. It is, 

 as if nature had endowed them with a special 

 attribute— viz., that of sweetness— for wherever 

 they are grown in a garden it becomes a place 

 where rich perfume is found in the summer even- 

 ing hours. Even some of the flowers that add a 

 charm to our gardens by day exhale their richest 

 odours at night. The Ten Week Stock may be 

 mentioned, and Pinks too. Shrubs and plants 

 noted for the fragrance of their leaves are never 

 sweeter than in the hours between dusk and 

 dawn. In this connection we think of Sweet 

 Briars and Lavender and Rosemary, and Thymes, 

 old-fashioned subjects, it is true, but valued 

 because of the perfume they emit. Specially frag- 

 rant are the blossoms of Nicotianas, Rockets, 

 Mathiola bicornis, Schizopetalon Walkeri, Xvcter- 

 inias, Oenotheias (Evening Primroses), Veitch- 

 iana. and Drummoudi nana, all of which are 

 annuals, and may be sown in the open ground. 

 We think of other blossoms that are the sweetest 

 at nightfall, Liliums, like the Madonna (old Can- 

 didum). Mignonette, Heliotropes, and also Wood- 

 ruff, whose flowers and foliage give a scent as of 

 new-mown hay. Roses, too, pervade the air with 

 their sweetness quite as much by night as by day. 

 The Honeysuckle half-covering the porch is fes- 

 tooned with fragrant clusters, the white star-like 

 flowers of Jasmine have a perfume all their own. 

 In early summer nights. Lilies of the Valley in a 

 bed 

 " Shed a lasting perfume, but for which 



We had not known there was a thing so sweet 



Hid in the gloomy shade." 



Gardens where these plants are grown become 

 pleasant places at the close of day, and though 

 some of the flowers are scarcely worthy of notice 

 at noon amid those of more brilliant blossoms, it 

 is when the sunlight dies away and they let their 

 delicious secrets out, that we are able to appre- 

 ciate most of all their gift of fragrance. 



W. LiNDERS Le.\. 



Perennial Plants for Perennial Beauty 



Of all the flowering plants which lend charm to 

 a garden, we think that those to be found amongst 

 hardy perennials are the most interesting, greet- 

 ing us as they do in the spring days, adding rich- 

 ness to the bordeis in summer, and casting their 

 spell in the autunm ere they bid us farewell. And 

 this ever-changing loveliness is all the more 

 valued when we remember that it is repeated year 

 by year, so that we have come to look for them 

 as old friends, as undoubtedly they are, to all who 

 truly love their garden and the treasures it con- 

 tains. We are constantly meeting with people 

 who, for reasons of economy, now plant subjects 

 <if a permanent character, instead of plants whose 

 beauty is of short duration during the summer 

 months. This change of front, if we may so term 

 it, is not confined to private gardens alone, but 

 is to l)e seen in public parks and gardens, where 

 the bedding-out system once held supreme sway. 



