IRISH GARDENING 



VOLUME X 



No. 1 lo 



Edited by C- F. Ball 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND 



ARBORICULTURE IN IRELAND 





Some Gardens and Nurseries in England, 



Frtak Park, Henley-on-Thames. 



To the gardener, whether amateur or profes- 

 sional, Friar Park is surely one of the most 

 interesting places in England. It is what one 

 frequently hears called an "' all round '" place. 

 Although perhaps the rock garden has claimed 

 most attention from visitors of late year?, it is 

 by no means the only feature of a wonderful 

 garden or collection of gardens. Trees and 

 shrubs are numerous and well grown ; indoor 

 plants are represented by scores and hundreds of 

 species, many of surpassing beauty, others 

 quaint, and still others weird and wonderful. 

 The chief object of my visit, however, was to see 

 the famous rock garden, which has been in 

 course of construction for many years, and is 

 still progressing. As many rock gardening 

 people are aware, the plan of the garden is a 

 replica of the Matterhorn, and so faithfully has 

 the design been carried out that the Henley 

 Matterhorn is a terni in frequent and justifiable 

 use. I am not going to attem])t to describe all 

 the wonders of this wonderful work of art which 

 is not less wonderful below the surface where 

 caves and grottos of marvellous construction and 

 weird beauty have a story of their own. My 

 chief desire was to study the rock work and 

 examine the plants growing thereon. There is 

 satisfaction in doing so, knowing one is studjdng 

 something which is the outcome of years of 

 patient labour and many visits to the original 

 Matteihorn. Thus one can safely note many 

 points which often puzzle when structural work 

 has to be carried out and no opportunity of 

 visiting the Alps is forthcoming. To my mind 

 the most interesting thing about all rock 

 gardens is the plants, and the measure of their 

 iioalth antl vigour is. in my o]Mnion. the measure 

 of the rock gardens success : and it is not to the 

 commoner kinds which will grow anywhere one 

 uiust look. l)ut to those less fi'equently seen in 

 healthy luxuriance. July is not an ideal month 

 to see alpine flowers in bloom, but in some ways 

 it is a good time to visit a rock garden where 

 a large collection is grown, for those in flower then 

 are doubly valuable as extending the season of 

 beauty, which is what most gardeners are 

 continually trying to do. 



To accommodate a large and varied collection 

 of alpine plants it is necessary, of cour.se, to have 

 a variety of as])ects, a matter of no diflficulty at 

 Friar Park, where the area covered is so large 

 and the rocks used vary in size and shape, and 

 many weigh several tons. Every yard, as one 

 progresses slowly from the base to near the peak 

 of the " Matterhorn." is full of interest and 

 instruction : ridges and hollows, screes and 

 mountain pools and torrents all combine to 

 render a day spent among them one of the utmost 

 enjoyment and value to a gardener. Here on 

 the shady side of a ridge one meets perhaps a 

 colony of Primulas, there across the ravine on 

 sunny shelves Wahlenbergias or Campanulas are 

 revelhng in sun above and deep gritty soil below, 

 wandering into chinks and crannies and tumbling 

 over the friendly rocks in rudest health. 



Near the base Seseli gummiferum was con- 

 spicuous by its much cut glaucous leaves. This 

 is a meadow plant reaching 3 feet high A\'hen in 

 flower, and is biennial only. Aplopappus Parryi 

 in habit resembles a dwarf Solidago, and is 

 useful on large rock gardens where a representa- 

 tive collection is aimed at. Primula floriden.sis 

 was early noted in flourishing condition, though 

 not then in flower. Scorzonera rosea, a pink 

 flowered variety of the Viper's Grass, was out of 

 flower, but of interest to those who have large 

 collections to maintain. 



Cytisus Kitaibelii, which had also been noted 

 a Kew, is a low growing species, evidently free 

 flowering, judging from the abundant crop of 

 seed then carried. It resembles in habit the 

 ]ilant connnonly grown as Genista humifusa. and 

 is evidently a useful rock plant, though not 

 mentioned iu the latest works on trees and 

 shrubs. 



Erigeron hybridus roseus, a garden plant, but 

 quite hajipily placed on the rockery, gives a 

 welcome touch of colour and flowers after the 

 main flush of spring and early summer flowers. 

 Veronica multiflda, a much cut-leaved Speed- 

 well, is also called V. austriaca, and is suitable 

 either for the rock garden or front of the 

 herbaceous border. Dracocephalum botryoidcs 

 is a very distinct woolly-leaved plant, valuable 



