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IRISH GARDENING 



Notes from Rostrevor. 



Among the plants tluit cuuie into liluuni lato in 

 the year is Hn nniin'ilitntscuKi aU>ifi„rn, from lli.' 

 Himalayan region and Japan— a very i)rittv 

 species hoth in folia^re and in its long, white anil 

 graceful panicles, and wi-ll adapted to reci'ive a 

 place in the rock garden. The dwarf carpeting 

 1 olyijonum nicrinifoliutn, pink, is also pleasing; 

 while the trailing I'ulinjnla Chanuihu.ruK. with its 

 variety i>»r;»i/rp(», and the small ujjright J/iflm- 

 spernunn riK^iiHiriiiifoliuiii , from South Kuitppc, 

 now beginning to develop bright l)lue How. is, ron- 

 tinue all through the winter and into tlu- following 

 spring, weather permitting, to brighten up the 

 dead season of the year. The larger I'l/rilln nucnii- 

 flum, a somewhat rare shrub from the Southern 

 United States; Liijustnim (^htihuui, from China; 

 the half-hardy .Sd/r/o nitihnis, bright scarlet; and 

 the half-hardy and curious little .ycscnihryan- 

 themum ti(jrinum, yellow, are moreover autumn 

 flowering. So also is Elsholtzia puli/sinchya, 

 which showed an abundance of bloom," whereas 

 its companion. E. Staunfanii, did not open at all. 

 CoUetio apinuMi and ('. birtuneusis luive never 

 been more fioriferous; in reality, these two plants 

 are the same, and are properly called ('. rruciatd, 

 but they are vastly different in outward appear- 

 ance; the leaves of the former are awl-shaped, 

 whereas those of the latter are broad, stiff, and 

 quite hard, as if carved out of wood painted 

 green, and well sharpened at the ends; this 

 peculiar species is a native of Uruguay. Bu<hUe\u 

 paniculata, with soft, woolly foliage, grey above 

 and white beneath, has small compact" i)urple 

 trusses, and Fentstenwn <tntirrhiii(ji(les, yellow 

 flowers unlike those we are accustouied to" asso- 

 ciate with that genus. Coiunillu yhtuca and C. 

 ralentina are extremely bright all through 

 autumn, and C. juncea has only ceased to bloom 

 a short time ago. Teiiciium fruticaius, with grey 

 green leaves and white branchlets, may be added 

 to the list, for it continues to produce its pale 

 blue flowers late in the season. A Clemat'us, from 

 Tali Range. China, received here with no other 

 name, opened its pleasing, nodding, yellow inflor- 

 escence at the end of October. It seems to be a 

 rampant grower, and likely to be useful in many 

 gardens. I think it is probably ('. akebioides. 



But the chief interest at this time lies in the 

 autumn tints, which are remarkably good this 

 season, owing, I fancy, to the drought in the early 

 summer. The whole landscape has, in fact, been 

 very bright with the unusual colouring that all our 

 native trees have assumed. The imported trees 

 and shrubs are, as a rule, no less biilliant, and 

 one of the best is Disunfhus ce nidi folia, from 

 Japan, which always turns a gorgeous red that 

 often remains a long time on the plant. Enhian- 

 thus carnpanulatus and E. suhsessilis are quite 

 as vivid and lasting, E. (ennis being, perhaps, the 

 least conspicuous in this respect. Of Sumacs, 

 Bhus cotinoides, B. si/lrestris, li. fi/pliina, 7^ 

 ■i-erninfero, and H. Toxicodendron may be noted; 

 but it IS w^ell to add that the last-named is, to 

 some extent, poisonous, and liable to affect some 

 persons in a disagreeable Avay if they handle the 

 leaves too freely. Euoni/mu.s (j?«/»*s, E. renu- 

 cosus, Xyssa sylvatica, Farottiu jdcquemontiami , 

 P. persicu, Photinia variabilis {Fourthixu ar- 

 guta), Taxodiiim distichum, are known for their 

 autumn colouring; so also TAquidambar styraci- 

 fiua, to which should be added L. fomtosanu, witli 



M 11 better '"ts but^ not jierhap.. quite so hardv. 

 Diospyros Mazrlh, from Japan, with fine large 

 entire fohage. takes a nuignifi.-ent red shade; a 

 full-grown tie.' IS likely to form a special feature 

 in the woods at the fall of th.' l.-af. while the 

 dark brown nf some of the Magnolias, notably of 

 M. hypohura. eontrasts well with the other pre- 

 vailing col..urs. Among the Maples are— .4rer 

 iinseum with ,).'eling bark; .1. JI cldreirhii, A 

 mirraitHnnn, .1. inhd.niie, A. pahnaium, with its 

 numerous varu'ties; ,1. rubrum, A. .Schwcdleri 

 and one raised from seed under the name of 1 

 Isuuj-pi-Uiom, which seems to be remarkably 

 good. Linilcni nbtusilobu, L. triloba, and Ihuim- 

 meli.s mollis, turn to bright gold; the climbing 

 Hydrangea prtmlnris to canary yellow; //. quer- 

 (ifotia, red; Multotus japonicun, brown orange- 

 ( oriiiis (/labrata. red and pink. Moreover (Jiier- 

 ciis (jro.sseserrata, Q. Michauxii, and Q. mnrilan- 

 dna most of the Birches, among them Beiida 

 Alediredieiri, some of the Thorns, for instance 

 ( rafiri/its alnorinn, C. conjunriu, I', splevden.s' 

 and inany other trees and shrubs are desirable- 

 for their autumn colouring. 



Cotoneaster horizontalis is the more striking ui 

 this time, since the scarlet l)erries are the same 

 bright shade as the falling leaf; something of 

 the same effect can be seen in C. adpressa; but 

 for the most part the various species are planted 

 for the fruit, and among them may be noted C. 

 b ranch etu, with .soft grey foliage; ('. punnosa; i' 

 .\o. 5567 (Forre.^t), and the carpeting C. hiimi- 

 fusa. The berries of GauWieria antipoda are 

 rosy pink, contrasting well with the small, dark 

 leaves; on (I. tnchophylla they are tourquoise- 

 blue; and on (r. ceitchiana the same colour when 

 exposed to tlie light. They are very freely pro- 

 duced upon this plant, l)ut are too often hidden 

 under the foliage, and then they remain white 

 The Berberis also are covered with fruit B 

 'KJUregata, B. polyuntlia, B. Frattii recurvuta, B. 

 >>tapfiaua, B. siibcauUalata, B. Tischleri, B. 

 Wilsonw, B. Vilmoriniana being perhaps among 

 the best. Hymenanthera crassi folia and H. den- 

 fata bear whito berries; and on Cornus cupitata 

 (Benthamia frayifera) they are large, dull pink, 

 and shaped like strawberries. Vaccinium Arc- 

 to.staphylos and Myrtua Ufini produce edible fruit 

 which ripen very fairly well in this district. 



( rocus ochroleucus, and a late Kniphofia, 

 which IS, I think, K. serotina, have been bloom- 

 ing for some time. Iris uiiuiiictditris (I. sti/losa) 

 has come back into life much earlier than usual, 

 and IS now sending up many of its delightful 

 flowers. But tlie best at this time here is Hchizo- 

 stylis corcmea, the Kaffir Lily, which spreads well 

 and never fails to brighten the late autumn with 

 many spikes of red blooms; if weather permits, 

 the display lasts for some time. Amicia zyqu- 

 ineris is an interesting herbaceous plant from 

 Mexico, growing usually from 8 to 10 feet high, 

 and having large, yellow, pea-like flowers; it is 

 set off by a fine tall scarlet Thistle, whose exact 

 name I have not been able yet to ascertain. The 

 blue Faroe}) et US communis has been blooming 

 rather later than usual. Of native plants. Cle- 

 matis Vitallxi is conspicuous, if it can be got to 

 clothe a tall tree and cover the stem with its own 

 rampant growth, and so to show to the best 

 advantage the greyish white hairy seeds that 

 have earned for it the name of '" Old Man's 

 Beard." 



J. R. OF B. 



