124 



IRISH GARDENING 



mate leaves, and from early June lu the <.\td <<( 

 suiunier will put up strong but graeeful llowci 

 stems, whicli, branching into several heads. Iumi 

 a succession of large hlossoms of a most ilflieati; 

 rosy-crimson hue. G. uncmon:i fulium enjoys a 

 fairly cool soil, and by no means ol)jects to half 

 shade. It is a perfect woodland plant wlur*' it 

 is not too thick overhead, and is llie hetttr for 

 some shelter from wind, for witli too great ex- 

 posure in winter it is liable to siiakc loose or 

 l)reak off at the ntx-k. 



Anotlier lirst-rate species for a cool spot and 

 moist soil is G. irallK liimium. Tliis is a scuii- 

 prostrate plant which sends out many bramhing 

 stems which will often cover two or three scjuare 

 feet of ground and produce an al)undance of 

 flowers from July, or earlier, until we are well 

 into autunm. These blossoms are unliko those 

 of most of the clan, for they are round and almost 

 flat, or saucer-sliaped, and in the liest forms they 

 should be a clear blue with a white centre. The 

 finest irdUichionuin of this descrijjtiou is mi- 

 doubtedly that known as " E. C. Buxton," the 

 flowers of which not only approacli the lovely 

 blue of the nemophila, but closely resemble that 

 pretty Californian in shape, though they are con- 

 siderably larger. This plant should never have 

 full exposure to hot sun if the colour is to be seen 

 to perfection, but it is an easy doer in any well- 

 drained soil that does not dry-out too quickly in 

 summer. Like others here mentioned, it is a true 

 perennial, and easily propagated by seed sown in 

 the open. 



G. urandiflorum of the true type is a splendid 

 border plant, hard as nails, and one that will do 

 well year after year if left undisturbed. The 

 flowers are very large, about 2 inches across, liowl- 

 shaped, and of a rich purple at the eye. There 

 are, however, several foinis of this, as of so many 

 other hardy Geraniums, and some of those with 

 bluish-purple blossoms whicli appear a cold, pure 

 l)lue in the evening light, are very charming. 

 The height is about a foot, and the plant looks 

 best when in groups. 



That pretty Pyrenean, G. Endressi, is well wortli 

 a place in border or woodland. It is in stature 

 a link between the tall kinds and the rock garden 

 dwarfs, practically evergreen, and one that is a 

 certain bloomer, providing an unbroken succes- 

 sion of soft, but bold, pink flowers from the later 

 summer until the very brink of winter. It hybri- 

 dises freely w'ith G. strintum, and when these two 

 are grown anywhere near one another one may 

 rely upon any number of self-sown seedlings of 

 infinite shades of rosy pink. 



I have mentioned the glorious G. xaufiuiueuin , 

 but here again one may find many forms, soiue 

 being larger and bolder in growth than the native 

 species, others smaller with larger blooms, and 

 yet a few of semi-trailing or prostrate habit — all 

 of them good. Nor can one omit to mention the 

 very fine white variety, the exceptionally dainty 

 little G. Lancastriense, and the easy, good-tem- 

 pered G. Lou-ii. This last (a biennial) has liecn 

 described as a " gigantic Herb Robert," and per- 

 haps truly; but it is such an accommodating 

 plant, sowing itself freely year after year and 

 flourishing under almost any conditions that one 

 cannot fail to have regard for it that approaches 

 admiration A. T. Johxsox. 



Notes from a Small Garden. 



liy K. liLovu ru.vKOKJi. 



*' Novelties." 



I sui'i'osK it is because I am inti-rested in Ijotany 

 rather than in horticulture, and consequently find 

 more attraction in the spct-ics which nature has 

 produced in lifty tiiousand years than in the 

 crosses wliich gardeners have produced in five 

 minutes (by the simple process of transferring 

 I)ollen), that 1 incline to look upon " Novelties " 

 with preliminary suspicion. I'erhajjs it is also 

 because I have tried so many of them and found 

 so few to be any improvement on old and much- 

 loved favourites. I am again thinking not of 

 florists' " stuff," but of material for the rock 

 garden. Of course, many most interesting species 

 have been introduced in recent years, notably 

 from China; but few nurserymen can resist a new 

 name, and so the wary gardener waits till he has 

 seen the " novelty " before ordering it at five or 

 ten shillings. Then, again, the hybridizing stunt 

 tends to fill catalogues with new names, though 

 the plants have mostly but little of novelty about 

 them. Take the nondescript army of hyl)rid Saxi- 

 frages. Very few ot them is a whit better in any 

 way than tlie patents, which possess, moreover, 

 the glamour wliich always appertains, and pro- 

 perly so, to a natural species; a creation which is 

 ImiuikI to be an ol)ject of intense interest to the 

 tliinkiiig man. 



Darwin explained the distinctness of species and 

 absence of intermediates by the statement that the 

 latter tend to die out in 'nature. So they ought 

 to, and the gardener will often confer a boon by 

 assisting tlie process. If a dowdy pinky-yallery 

 thing, half way between a Kabschia and an En- 

 gleria, is the liest we can do, then let us pray 

 heaven for a wiser heart, and let the hybrid Saxes 

 go. I know a lot of this is rank heresy, and, ff)r 

 the sake of provoking replies, I have pitclied it 

 in strong, but my sympathies are with Owen 

 Seaman when he writes : — 



" Howe'ei- it be, it seems to me 

 It's not important to be New; 

 New art would better Nature's best. 

 But Nature knows a thing or two." 



Reck Garden Paths. 

 I THINK most people will admit that a gravel path 

 it out of place in the rock garden. The surface 

 of a rock garden should consist of either stones 

 or plants, and the i)aths shoidd be no exception 

 to the rule. A neatly gravelled path recalls box 

 edgings and rows of Wallflowers and Lobelias, or 

 green velvet lawn with a mathematically straight 

 edge to it— all admirable in their way, but the 

 very things one wants to get away from in the 

 rock garden. Of course, in public places, like 

 Kew and Glasnevin, you cannot get away from 

 a well-defined path; if you made the paths part 

 of the rock garden you would have philistines 

 tramping all over the plants and sitting on the 

 stones. But in the private rock garden, be it 

 large or small, a natural treatment is possible. 

 In Mrs. Greer's ample garden an attempt is made 

 to imitate the rough stony tracks that one 

 actually finds on the mountains; and when their 



