IRISH GARDENING 



5 



And now to those at home, a crisis has 

 developed Which threatens to leave that home 

 shorn of all for which it stood. Are We not bound 

 to do our share in the sequence of thmgs and to 

 pass on the place at least no worse than we got 

 it ? Worn out old Woods must be restocked With 

 suitable trees. Not all at once, but bit by bit, 

 as circumstances permit, but above all with 

 serious consideration and understanding. I had 

 far rather nothing was done than that money 

 should be spent on some scheme foredoomed to 

 failure. If the matter is faced squarely the 

 difficulties often shrivel into insignificance, and 

 uiany unexpected facilities crop up. In num- 

 bers of cases a trifling sum per acre in supple- 

 uienting and safeguarding the natural seedlings 

 A\ill secure a full crop. Some owners, and they 

 not alWaj^s the most favourably situated, have 

 already for some time past been quietly Working 

 on these Unes with the best results. They are 

 not afraid of What the future may bring forth, 

 but are courageous enough to " do the next 

 thing " — and so, all credit to theui. 



[In a future issue our correspondent will put 

 forward suggestions for dealing with existing 

 woods. — Ed.] 



Saxifrages— New and Old, 



By Murray Hornibrook, Knapton, Abbeyleix, 

 Queen's County. 



To everyone who takes an interest in Saxifrages 

 there comes a time when he despairs of their 

 names and doubts if any be true. For this 

 nurserymen are much to blame, their methods 

 of naming plants are notoriously free and easy 

 and their imaginations run away with them when 

 they are let loose amongst the Silver and Mossy 

 Saxifrages. For the nurseryman there is this 

 much to be said — both these t\T^)es of Saxifrage 

 seed freely, and hardly an}^ of them come true 

 from seed, consequently every nursery and 

 garden has its own varieties and forms, some of 

 which are sent out as well known species, and 

 others are given high-sounding names, and the 

 result is chaos to the gardener. 



Saxifrages have a particular attraction for me, 

 and for some years I have, for the purpose of 

 comparison, acquired every species and varietv 

 that })y descri])tion or appearance seemed to be 

 distinct. Of Aizoon Saxifrages alone I have 

 over 200 "" named " varieties, and very many 

 of these are old friends with new names, and 

 the confusion is terrible. Some visiting 

 gardening friends recently said : '"It seems 

 almost hopeless for the non-s])ecialist to know 



what to get and what he is getting." I was 

 struck with the truth of this remark, and, as a 

 result, I have gone through my Saxifrages, 

 sorting and comparing them, elmiinating iden- 

 tical or nearly identical forms and disregarding 

 varieties of no particular merit. By these 

 methods 1 have, I think, evolved a certain 

 amount of order out of chaos, and, remembering 

 my own difficulties, I am placing the results of 

 my observation before the readers of Irish 

 GardeninCx in the hope that they may be of 

 use to them. I have entered upon my task 

 with misgivings. We are at present much in 

 need of a comprehensive work on Saxifrages by 

 some real authority. One is alwaj^s hoiking that 

 Professor Bayly Balfour will spare the time to 

 help us in this matter, but whatever chance there 

 may be of a work of this nature I fear that there 

 is none of an authoritative work on the many 

 garden forms that exist, and it is with these 

 I will chiefly deal. I should add that in most 

 cases therefore I have had to depend, for my 

 description and naming of a plant, upon the 

 comparison of the various plants received on good 

 authority from botanic gardens and from various 

 nursery and private gardens. 



In the present article I will deal with the 

 Aizoon or Silver Saxifrages. Of this section 

 I think it is safest to assume that there is no 

 recognised type, and we are on surer ground 

 when we call the well known local forms after 

 their localities. The Aizoon Saxifrages are 

 especially notable for the beauty of their 

 rosettes — white, blue, silver or green — and some 

 for the additional beauty of their flowers. The 

 best are pure white or white spotted with 

 crimson, the worst green-white, but most forms 

 are so beautiful in leaf that they are well worth 

 growing even if they never flowered. They are 

 extremely hard}^ and increase readily from 

 rosettes torn off and stuck doMTi anywhere in 

 the open ground. 



Let us first examine the dwarf forms ; the 

 smallest in commerce is S. Aizoon baldensis, 

 which makes moss-like mats of tight silvery 

 rosettes. I have not seen it in flower. I have 

 an equally small collected form having greener 

 rosettes with scarlet reverse to the leaves, I 

 have not yet given it a distinctive name, as it 

 has not flowered, but I have a ft-ee- flowering 

 dwarf foim in S. Aizoon Venetia, not quite as 

 small as the others, but bearing its pure white 

 flowers with freedom. S. I'agave dauphine or 

 lagraveana is slightly larger again, with tight 

 rosettes and solid creamy flowers. S. labradorica 

 and S. restinata seem to be the same plant and 

 not particularly attractive. S. Aizoon pusilla is 

 another small form not to be compared with the 



