IRISH GARDENING 



■27 



Notes from Rostrevor. 



During the past month the weather has improved 

 very much. There has been more sun and heat, 

 and the effect was soon seen on the plants. Clero- 

 dendron Bungei, by far the best of the genus, red 

 buds in large bunches opening pink, a very hand- 

 some and vigorous shrub, is as good as usual. 

 So also are Cemtostigtna plumbaginoides, blue, 

 darker in colour, and smaller than C. Willmottix; 

 Veronica macroura, distinct with long droopmg 

 white flowers and curiously crumpled leaves; 

 Escalloniu florihiinda, and E. montecidensis, the 

 former earlier than the latter, but very like each 

 other white, and proba])lv varieties of the same 

 species; Nesxa scdieifulia, yellow; Stevia sahci- 



AU the above plants flowered well, and also 

 Colquhoutiia vestita, fairly well, an interesting 

 shrub from North India allied to Salvia, orange- 

 red. Grevillea sulphurea, yellow, may, moreover, 

 be added to the list, as it has been in constant 

 bloom for the past few months. But some others 

 which ought now to be at their best, have not 

 been quite so satisfactory : Bursaria spinosa, 

 white, from Australia {B. Pantoni did not flower 

 at all). Magnolia grandifiora, Perowshia atriplici- 

 folia, and Zauschneria californica — the last two 

 suited to rock-work. The small tree, Oxydendron 

 arboreum, allied to Andromeda, with long leaves 

 that taste like sorrel, flowered sparsely, bunches 

 of Lily of the Valley; and the same may be said 

 of Polygonum equisetiforme and Platycrater 



Steknbkrgt.\ lutea — The Winter Daffodil 



folia, half hardy, from Mexico, white; and Cary- 

 opteris Mastacanthus, powder-blue, from the Far 

 East, one of the gems of autumn. Buddleia auri- 

 culata, from South Africa, was somewhat earlier 

 than usual, and its charm is not so much due to 

 the small sulphur-coloured trusses which cover 

 it as to the delightful fragrance with which they 

 fill the air in its neighbourhood. Eupatorium 

 veinmantnanum is also fioin Mexico, and appears 

 to be quite hardy in tlie milder districts of 

 Ireland. A bush some fifteen feet high is now 

 a striking oljject, and the more so since it attracts 

 the butterflies and shows them off against the 

 white bloom disposed in many wide corymbs. 

 These l)eautiful insects became very plentiful 

 directly the weather mended, and the Admirals 

 were far more numerous than I have ever seen 

 them before; they were to be seen everywhere, 

 literally in hundreds. Tlic other butterflies, Pea- 

 cocks, Tortoiseshells, &c., were also represented, 

 l)ut the Fritillaries were still absent, and I liave 

 hardly seen more than half-a-dozen this year. 



urguta, a rather rare small shrub from Japan. 

 Indigofera pendiiliformis, a new introduction, has 

 just flowered for the first time, but whether out 

 of season or not 1 am unable to say, as I know 

 so little of the species : it is mentioned because 

 it is likely to be an acquisition. Bliahdotliamnus 

 Solandri, of the Gesnera Order from New Zealand, 

 produced very little bloom at the proper time, in 

 summer, but is now making up for it by display- 

 ing many orange-red bells netted black, an inch 

 long; it is a snuill. half-hardy, and very desirable 

 plant for any garden where it can be established ; 

 it has been outside here for two or three winters. 

 Some of the Clcmatin should be noted: C. 

 huchaniana, not as good as usual; C. Pitcheri, 

 ('. )>ani(iilata, very floriferous and late; C. tan- 

 gutica and its variety, obtiisiiiscula, better than 

 the type. Anindo conspicua, a reed from New 

 Zealand, throws up large white plumes, and is 

 somewhat like Covtaderia argentea, Pampas grass, 

 only some weeks earlier than the latter, which is 

 now developing its handsome inflorescence. 



