OCTOBER 



IRISH GARDENING. 



47 



by yourself when the pockets are being- made, 

 or it is not impossible that when you go to look 

 at the larg-e irregular pockets that you have 

 ordered to be constructed on the top of your 

 wall you will be confronted by a straight, 

 regular line of small protuberances strongly 

 resembling swallows' nests. 



Next comes the filling of the pockets. It is 

 well to put some pieces of roughly broken sods 

 in the bottom, and in a few of the deepest we 

 sometimes put a very little well-rotten manure, 



almost, if not quite, as fine as those which hang 

 from the rocks in its native home in the 

 Pyrenees, where it is known as " Reine des 

 Pyrenees." Then, in addition to the saxi- 

 frages, there is the whole of the dianthus 

 family to select from, as all ordinary pinks 

 thrive splendidly on walls, and the sheets of 

 grey foliage clothe the stones beautifully, and 

 later when the pink and white starry flowers 

 appear their charm is still further enhanced. 

 The creeping veronicas, alyssums, arabises, 



[.Ur. Ric/iard Hnrringtoii, 



Section ok HERisACEors Border, Wall Garden behind, Alexandra College. 



then fill up with a good potting mixture of 

 maiden earth, leaf- mould and sand. Now 

 comes the question of planting ; wall-flowers, 

 snapdragons and red valerian first suggest 

 themselves, as these plants are everywhere to 

 be seen on old walls. The tower of the church 

 at Carlingford is a delightful example of the 

 way in which wall-flowers can sow themselves 

 over a building. The wealth of material is great 

 from which you can choose for your walls, as 

 fortunately most rock plants do well in town. 

 We have had sprays of Saxifrage Longifolia 

 here on our walls in the centre of Dublin 



helianthemums, and the smaller cistuses all do 

 well. Aubretias we find rather disappointing ; 

 they flower late with us and never very freely. 

 German irises are much at home on walls, and 

 they should be used where height is desired, as 

 their stiff", sword-like foliage always looks well 

 among the stones. There are scores of other 

 plants which can also be employed ; in fact, our 

 experience would lead us to advise that any- 

 thing that is left over in the propagating bed, 

 which is not a moisture-loving plant, and is not 

 manifestly unsuitable, should be experimented 

 with on the walls. It once happened that we 



