IRISH GARDENING. 



71 



drainag-e conditions are more perfect than in 

 any other Alpine primula. 



After a few weeks the stems were rooting 

 freely, and in two months from potting they 

 were placed in permanent quarters in the 

 nursery plunging beds. Several of the plants 

 have been planted with their old roots, but the 

 result has been most disappointing. 



Of the several other primulas that I collected, 

 the dry - loving species were treated in a 

 like manner ; they consisted of P. alpina, P. 

 owenensis, P. arctotis, and a few plants of P. 

 commutata. Of the species which grow in close 

 association with Dryas and Parnassia on the 

 damp swamps, a few different remarks will, I 

 think, be in order. In this case the species 

 were — P. farinosa, P. integrifolia, P. latofolia, 

 P. Clusiana, P. assimilis. Of this section there 

 are several points worthy of our notice. That 

 the damp-loving primulas come from the higher 

 Alpine peaks in the Pyrenees Alps, whilst in the 

 Alps of Switzerland many ot the same species 

 are found in the lower valleys; so it is evident 

 that different climatic conditions prevail in the 

 valleys of the two great arctic gardens of 

 Europe. 



I have seen several species in Switzerland 

 which can be collected at quite low altitudes, 

 while these same species exist in the Pyrenees. 

 It is ahvays at a very high range. This is very 

 noticeable in the case of P. integrifolia and P. 

 minima. 



The home treatment of these semi-bog species 

 was very much the same as in the previous 

 section, with the exception that one part peat 

 was substituted for one of the parts of sand 

 rubble, and that they were stood on bog soil in 

 the frames instead of ashes, and a good supply 

 of water was given for the first month. 



Leaving the primulas, even though their 

 grace and charm still holds us in tender ad- 

 miration, and talking of their heavenly-coloured 

 companions, the gentians, wonderful as are 

 these bells of blue under cultivation, yet more 

 deliciously beautiful are they when seen growing 

 amid the varie-coloured grasses, with Silene 

 acaulis, Anemone alpina to relieve the carpet of 

 blue; and as great as their beauty, just so is the 

 difficulty of establishing them after collecting. 

 With the exception of G. Kochiana I find that 

 they all do best as bog plants. These plants 

 must be collected in little tufts of grass and 

 potted up in them, and the grass slowly weeded 



out as opportunity occurs. I suppose there is 

 no plant more difficult to establish than the 

 Gentian from the collected state. I have had 

 a very hard fight with G. Kochiana and G. 

 Rostani, as both plants were collected before 

 the growing season was properly ended ; but in 

 the case of G. Bavarica, G. imbricata, G. verna, 

 G. Favratii, I have succeeded well ; they were 

 pressed into pots and plunged into sand, in a 

 very damp place beside a stream, and are now 

 pushing forth a good display of colour. The one 

 thing to watch is that the little root-like stems 

 do not get bared by the air, and to prevent 

 this it is well to top-dress with some fairly stiff 

 soil at such times as required. 



One of the most difficult plants to import is 

 the Androsace, though fairly easily to manage 

 when one gets it home ; but in the rough and 

 tumble of collecting they suffer badly. It is 

 best to pack them separately in boxes with dry 

 moss, and keep them very close, and even then 

 they run considerable risk. Androsace carnea 

 is said to grow fairly plentiful on the Pyrenees, 

 but in my several trips on these mountains only 

 on one occasion have I seen the true plant, for 

 it is known only to few Alpinists as A. Laggeri, 

 and its forms are generally sent out by the 

 nurseries as A. carnea ; and even botanical 

 works speak wrongly of this plant, and Laggeri 

 is very far from even resembling it ; as a matter 

 of fact, A. lactea is nearer A, carnea than the 

 form that is usually taken for it. It is true, A. 

 lactea is a larger plant, but the whole structural 

 appearance is very similar. 



To describe A. carnea in a simple way, it has 

 lanceolate leaves of about 1 inch long; they are 

 borne in formal round rosettes, which grow very 

 close and flat to the soil, and gives off side- 

 shoots very sparingly. It sends up flower spikes 

 of about three inches high, upon which is a 

 whorl of very slightly pink flowers and deep 

 rose-coloured buds. Of the well-known A. 

 Laggeri and its forms, which has long been 

 regarded as A. carnea, the highest peaks of the 

 Pyrenees abound in this wee floral gem ; not so 

 with A. imbricata, which is very rarely seen 

 with its slender flowers ; yet I managed to 

 collect some five or six plants of this rarity. 



A. obtusifolia is more common, but b}- uo 

 means plentiful, while in A, pyrenaica, which 

 takes its name from these mountains, is only 

 to be found on the large boulders, and is in 

 most cases ver\- hard to reach. The best treat- 



