44 



IRISH (i.\lM)i:NIN(J 



Raising Alpines from Seed* 



i:> i:. 15. .\M.i;i;-(.N. 



'I'UKifK ar.' s.. many .ul varit a^r.-s t.> !..• -aiii.'.l l.\ 

 raisiii^i cliuitf alpirifs fnnu sct-d that tli;Mr slmuld 

 lie no ui-*-<l to call till- attciitiiiii ot' ainatcuis \n 

 this intcivsliuii phasi- of alpiiic ^.^ardt-uin;;. '!'<> 

 thosj- witli a sli'udiT idii'sc it olTcis an fcdiuimical 

 iiu'aiis of raisin.^ a stock of species whicii lui^dit 

 otherwise he lest licted to siiiyle ]ilaiits in, the 

 ^'ard»'H- In addition, it ^iws opjmilnnit y foi' 

 experiment ini: with capricions species in dilTeienl 

 jiarts of (he j,'ai<leii. for il is only by constant 

 stndv and exiieiiiuent tlial success can lie 

 obtained with all the Renis one wishes to cultivate: 

 this riMiuircs a stock of ]dants whic'li. if bought in 

 the niaturi' stat<'. would icsiiK in a. soniewhat 

 terrifying bill from the mirseryman. Fuillin. 

 I believe that in manv cases success is incuw 

 assured if one starts with seedliujis rather than. 

 mature i>lanls. The only disadvan(a<,'e is thai 

 one has to wait longer for the i)Iants to tlower. 

 Seedlings take at least a year to reach maturity, 

 and often longer : but if seeds are sown eacli year 

 tlie period of waiting is forgotten in the pleasure 

 of seeing each year several new species coming 

 into bloom. Tliere is, however, one diffifiilty 

 whicli confronts the small grower which it has 

 bi'en my object to overcome — that is, the annual 

 summer holiday. During this time, be it a. 

 fortnight or a montli, disaster niay ra])idiy 

 overtake the seed i)ans and seedlings owing to 

 drought, for it must l)e admitted that seed-raising 

 requires constant attention in the matter of 

 watering. It is with the object of overcoming 

 tliis dilficTilty that I have been ex])erinienting 

 for son\etime, an<l with some naeasure of success. 



There ai)pearsto be three methods available. 

 The first is to sow in pans or pots in the usual way, 

 adding a small ])roi)ortion of peat to the usual 

 mixture, and finally covering the pots with i to -} 

 ineh of silver sand : this not only prevents too 

 ra])id evajjoration, but also to some extent 

 ])revents tlie growth of moss. The ]K)ts are then 

 ]jlaced in a partially or com])letely shaded frame, 

 which is closed and covered with mats. lender 

 these circumstances the soil will remain quite 

 moLst for a fortnight after watering, even in a 

 frame ])artially ex])osed to the .sun. as mine is, and 

 would, no doubt, kee]) SO for three weeks in a 

 franie completely shaded froui the sun- The 

 darkness in wliicii the pots are ke])t is a^so very 

 efficacious in preventing the growth of moss, 

 which is exceedingly dangerous in the ca.se ot 

 S])ecies which take a year or so to germinate. A 

 further modiheation of this is to make the 

 bottom of the franie into a small tank, fdl the 

 frame with peat, and ])lunge the ])ots in this : 

 there is no difficulty in kee])ing an ineh or so 

 of water in the bottom of such a^ tank. T finind. 

 however, that this latter m.-thod kept (h.- soil 

 too dam]), with the result that it rapidly became 

 " sour." The root disadvantage of this "darkened 

 franie method lies in the fact that se.ds iii,i> 

 germinate while one is aw^ay and be irrct i ic\ ,i l.ly 

 ruined by growth in darkness before on,, ictuiiis. 



In order to avoid this I tried sowing out of 

 doors in a ])repared bed in a ])artiall>" shaded 

 situation, covering the seeds, when sown, with 

 chase cloches, the inside of which were brushed 

 over with whitening. Such a bed will, after 



l.rin^' well u.itered. last thiee W.-eks williouf 



.ittenti.in. and lon-er if rain falls, for any rain 



f.llling runs down between the I-OWS of cloches 



.'ind moistens th.- lailk of earth in which the seeds 

 .Me .sown. Seeds geiiuinatiiig aie Jierfectlv safe, 

 as IIh' slit along the top of each cloche maintains 

 anq.le ventilation- In t he case of seeds known I" 

 be of slow geiiuinat ion. these can be .sown in 

 proximilw .mil the cloches covered with mats \i< 

 uive darkti.ss .iiicf |ii.\en1 moss growth. 



Th.' f.nill 1 I.miikI uilli this method was tha.l 

 worms cnust.iutl.v Imiied, up the soil uiub-r the 

 cloches, so hurving seects or raising seedlings in 

 the air with r.'.sullant death. So far I have not 

 succeeded in overcoming this grave dinicultv. 



.My third aiul last method, although not «om- 

 pletelv tested vet. promises most, success. It is 

 a m..dili( ali..u"ur ll.r alx.ve (wo. The seeds are 

 sown in pots ciivncd with the saiul and (hen 

 l.luiiLred in a bed ..I sand in n partiallv shaib-.i 

 IM.sitiou aiul covered with (he shade! cloches as 

 befoic. .Any I'aJn (hat falls runs down between 

 the cloches, moistens the saiul. arul eventually 

 the pots, withouti giving (hat excess of moisture 

 which mili(a(ed against (he (ank nu-diod- Pots 

 of seeds likely to be long in germiiuiting can be 

 grou]ied together and the cloches covered with 

 mats, as before. I have liad |)ots in a snuill 

 ex])erijuental bed f<»r four months now, and 

 during (hat time they have had no watering at 

 all. When the set dlings are strong enough the 

 |)ots can be removed from the cloches and 

 plunged in a similar situation in the o])en, adding, 

 if ])()ssible, further sand on the to]* of the ]K)t. 

 Plunged aiul treated in such a way in a ]H)sition 

 shaded from the mid-day sun one can go away 

 on one's holiday without a tremor in any normal 

 .seas(ni. 



As regards time of sowing, I ]irefer to sow as 

 soon after the seeds are ripe as ])ossible, but this 

 is only possible in the case of home saved seeds ; 

 otherwise one has to wait till autumn, when, in 

 the case of, I think, a .solitary Iri.sh firm, and 

 several Continental ones, it is possible to obtain 

 seeds. Of course the necessity f)f autumn sowing 

 only occTirs in the case of species known to be of 

 tardy germination, others can safely be lef( (ill 

 spring. 



The following sown in autumn will generally 

 germinate freely in the fidlowing s]iring: — 

 Androsace, Anemone, Castilleja. Codonopsis, 

 f'Ortusa, Corydalis. Mulbous ])lants generally. 

 Cyclamen, Doilecatheon. Dryas, Edraianthus, 

 Erodium, Incarvillea, Meconoi)sis, Omjjhalodes, 

 Peutstemon, Potentilla, Prinuda, Eamondia, Saxi- 

 fraga, Viola (choice species, such as Comollia, 

 ])innata, &c,, very erratic), Wahlenbergia. 



Gentiana and Raminculus I find very erratic, 

 they may gernunate in spring if autumn sown, 

 or even in .siuiimer if sj)rin.g sown, but they may 

 also lie dormant for two years. Some Prinudas,— 

 e.(/., Cockburiuana, capitata, farinosa warei, 

 ])ulchelloides,^will germinate readily if s])ring 

 sown ; others, such as P. BuHeyana, Bee.siana and 

 Forrestii, are erratic even if autumn sown. 



The other naain grou])S not mentioned above 

 can be sown in S[)ring, but it must be reniembered 

 that some of the choicer alpines are slow of 

 gernunation — <?-r/-' some Thlaspis, Cami)anula 

 AUionii, Arc — and may not give a full crop of 

 seedlings till the following spring. That is why 

 I prefer autumn sowing where possible, as the 

 germination in spring is generally more prolific. 



