?..]. 



IRISH GARDENING 



S. Kviilli is a liair-l.n.(l,.T 1.. S. Kuiisii. hut. 

 t.All.-rau.l l.M..s,r. witii star sliai-.tl ylluw Il..\\i-i.s: 

 it is ;ni i'(nial!y puul iluci-. S. miuuiiiata is a very 

 liiir plant iii(lri-(l. with lari:c '^m-n ;.>s.tt«s. 

 (Ii-<tiii<llv iiiai-uiui-)l with silvn. ami |»mc white 

 ll..\v.-i-s. s.-v.-rai to .-a li st.-m. the pi-tals i.nm.l. 

 thiik ami ovcilaiipMiir : it is. <<> my miiid. lh<- 

 iiKist ilcsirahh- of tin- many somcwiiat ohs< iin- 

 lurms that arc louiid. S. iMchcliaiia ami S. 

 s.anlira. tin- n.-xt hfst h.-iii^ S. ro.li. ■liana, var. 

 . oiiophvlia. Willi romi.act .iisliions ami small. t 

 whit.- li.iwns on nd stems. S. lo.hfliana is 

 similar to S. mar-inata. hut with looser star- 

 shapfd llowns. Nim-ious small loi ms not far 

 from this, with thin petalled whiti- llowrrs. ar.' 

 sent out ius S. stardica. of which the hcst is one 

 t.rmi'd var. ohtusa. S. scaidica vera - which I 

 hclicvc to he the trut- i)laiit of (Jriseharhii- is a 

 very much linei' t hinv:, with lar.ue (loi- t he se<(ion ) 

 rosettes, like miniature water lilies. Iime-marnin''d 

 and lar-.' white llowers <if good texture : it di\ id. s 

 fre.iy. hut I have not yet fathomed its ue.-.ls. 

 Si. f.ir my lar^'cr i»lants die uuaccountahK : I 

 f.in.v it rtMiuir.s freciin-nt t.>]i(lressiu*r;. Iin<' stuff 

 w..rk.-d in h.-tw.-en its fall rosettes, to en.ahl.- 

 them t.. r..ot for themselves. S. Ohristii is a, 

 livhrid .)f S. mar<rinata. witli taller and looser 

 -ilv.-rv Itlue f.dia<;e and white flowers. S. 

 I'.tra.schii is. I tiiink. the hest wiiit< — exclmlinu- 

 th.' ))urserianas — in the section : its fo!ia.g-e is very 

 compatt an.d silvei-y. and it beais ahui\dance of 

 lati;.' ])Uie white flowers oj'. crims.m. steins. 

 S. Sunilermanni is so n.earas to be almost identical, 

 the petals of its fl.iwers, however, rre crinqxHl 

 ;uul waved. S. i)unKer.s is a jnucli-vaun.tcd 

 hyf)rid that I dislike, it is usually catalogued a-s 

 possessinj; ■■ i»recious ru.shions : " that may be so, 

 hut it ])ossesses ]>rerious little besides, as the 

 .ushions are of a dull green, and its small yellow 

 (lowers dowdy iii the extreme, and show theii- 

 .S. juii.iperina blo.>d. S. Pseudi-Kotschyi is a 

 charming imp.ister. it. has been, sent out for vears 

 as th.' true S. Kotschyi (which is a relative of 

 .S. (iris.'bachii) : the false Kotschyi is. however, 

 w.'ll woith mowing for its quantities of ])n\v 

 yellow flowers Itorne so early in the season and 

 its strong constitution. 



S. Paulina- is possibly the best y.'llnw of the 

 s.-cti.»n : I hesitate between it and the comiiacta 

 form of S. Horisii already referred to. Possibly 

 S. Faldonside at its t)cst surjiasses either, but 

 S. Faldonside is seldom seen at its best. On the 

 other hand, S. Paulina^, with its bright silvery 

 sjunes and brilliant y»'llow flowers on scarlet 

 stems, is very little beliind S. Faldonside in 

 beauty, and has the advantage of being as hardy 

 a.s a cabbage, and. given very stony soil and full 

 exi)osure, will nuike tight cushions like silvery 

 hay-cocks, and will flower piofusely. S. rochel- 

 iana I liave already mentioju-d. but I forgot its 

 colour foruis : var. lutea is a yellow counteri)art 

 of the type, and var. purpurea has purple flower 

 stems and pink buds opening white. 

 S. Salomoni is a hybrid of S. burseriana and 

 S. rocheliana with tight silver sjtines, a good 

 doer, but ])oor flowerer — wiiite flowers on red 

 stems. A stronger form, var. major, flowers with 

 greater freedom. S. Sprunneri is almost un- 

 obtainable at ])res«'nt ; it is a new s|)ecies from 

 (ireece with distinct somewliat hairy rosettes and 

 white flowers. S. tombeana is one of niy esj)ecial 

 .i.)ys: when well grown it makes the " tightest, 

 hardest cushions, like bright green beehives, and 



b.'.WS |iUIc white tloWil-s in .M.l\. 'I'lie tl'lie 



S. va.ld.-nsis i> .L.sse.l with t h.- Kabs.l.ias, but 

 on<' can sei' li.iw the minor form of S. c.tchleai'is 

 was mistakiii for it. .is th.' losetles arc sojiiewhat. 

 .iliki'. but the true plant .an always lie rec.»guised 

 hv the manriep jn which its f.diage is r.dled liack — 

 S.I tightlv d.. the ba.ks of th.- l.-aves hug the 

 surface .if the >..il Ihal t h.- c.-ntr.- of the rosette 

 is exp.is«'d .ind 111! wh.il. cushi.m feels .snuioth. 

 .S. cochl.-aris. on th.- .•ontrary. h.dds its foliage 

 nearly er.-ct. 'i'h.- tiu.- S. valdensis is extremely I 



r.ir.- an.l h.-ars whit.- Il.iw.-rs. it d.i.-s best with me j 



fully .-xp.is.-.l in granit.- .hips. S. \an.ielli. t h.' 

 last oj this se.'tion. is n<it an easy plant, pr.-f.-iriiig 

 tight chinks an.l .r.-vi.-.-s in s.di.l r.xk an.l pl.-ntv 

 .if sun: it has v.-ry tight and sh.-.rp hright gr.-.-n 

 spines and whit.- flowers. 



This, r think, .-.in.lud.-s th.- list of Kabs.hias 

 pr.ip.-r as at pres.-nt kn.iwn. and lume of them are 

 r.-aliy v.-iy dinicult to manage in very stony soil 

 with sharp diainage : they resent being iiarched \ 



in sprin.g. and, bitterly i-.-sent .iv.'rhead watering 

 in dry. win.dy or suivny weather: when.ever .me 

 h.-ars .if plants of this se.ti.m turning yell.iw and I 



p.-rishing one .an alm.ist invariably trace the ' 



commen.c.-ment of the tiouble t.i overhead 

 wat.-iing during dry sjiells. If the weather lie 

 ili-y in spring — like it is so often liere in .Viu-il a.nd 

 .May -wat.-ring will be m.ist necessary, an.l one 

 can avoid overhead wat.-ring bv getting s.ime .ild 

 coffee this — Hath Oliver liiscuit tins are best <.f 

 all bore a few holes with a brad-awl or nail in 

 the side of the tin, as n.ear the bottom as ]>ossiV>le, 

 tlieiv jilace the tin at the t4i]» of the slo])e or 

 ]io(-ket in which your Saxifrages are growing and 

 fill the tin with watei-. T.i water by hand roiiii.d 

 the roots is a labori.ius and time-wasting business, 

 but a go. id -sized tin. (ilh-d in this manner will do 

 the liusiu.'ss e.pially well f.ir y.iu. tlu- wat.-r slowly 

 ])ei'colating through fh<' h.iles aivd sinking in '' 



round the ro.its. and it nuist be an over fastidi.ius 

 Saxifrage that will not be safislied and deceiv<'d 

 into the belief that a miniatui-e glaciei- is being 

 sl.iwly dissolved for its benefit. In my next ' 



article I Ixipe to deal with the Englerias and some 

 of t he small. -r se(;ti.ins. , 



Coronilla glauca. 



Thi.s is an old friend in some gardens, and ]ir.il)- 

 ably many will recognise it as a greenhouse 

 plant. Certainly it is an ideal subject for cool 

 liouses, but this delightfid Coronilla is seen at its 

 l)(-st wlien jilaided out, where it will form a shrub 

 fr.im 2 to \ feet high. I have in mind a s])ecimen 

 which fl.iiirishes on a hill in the VVye Valley of 

 Gloucester, where it lias been more or les.s in 

 bloom for the last twelve months, and is still a 

 niass of flow^ers. The leaves are prettily divided, 

 and, as tlie name indicates, of a glaucous tint, 

 while the fragrant fl.iwers are bright yellow, and 

 very cons])icuous in a mass. 



Those who have not tried this |)lant in the o})en 

 should do so, e.specially if a slightly sheltered 

 position ran be selected. It can be ])ro])agated 

 freely from cuttings, and will thrive inordinary soil. 



Another s]>ecies, but not quite so showy, is 

 ('. valentina, which makes a ])retty little shrub, 

 as will C. enierus, while it is a'so a desirable 

 ]ilant foi- a north or west wall. The last named 

 produces i)lentv of seed, bv whi.li it can V)e readily 

 increased. ' T. W. B. 



