5^ 



IRISH GARDENING 



Saxifrages -New and Old. 



.MlKKAV ll(i|!MHi;<>t 

 Al.l.rylrix. (^i 



•n's Coll 



I'Al 



111 



I'm 



Kn( 



Thi-; l^njiU-rias — (host- fasi-iiuitiiiK Saxifrairts 

 whicli hail mostly fi-om the Halkans — ask and 

 (IrsiTVf an i'Xcoi>ii()nallv well drained liinv soil. 

 .Most of th«-ni liavf siiiall ll. pwns .lulosrd in 

 ruonaonstlnn-ycalir.-s 



and stiMus rovcn-d 



with WDndri-ful 

 iridescent silkv hairs. 

 They will stand a 

 LTood deal more sun 

 than the Kahschias. 

 and if planted in 

 pockets, the slop*' 

 nuist ho sharp to 

 allow all surface mois- 

 ture to run olT. Th.- 

 lies t kno w n is ,S. 

 ( iriesbacliii from Mace- 

 donia. It has lar^e 

 i-osettes of a beautiful 

 blue-silver hemmed 

 with white, and bears 

 deeii crimson tiowei-s 

 in a cone-shaped liead 

 i n Fe b r u a r y. The 

 tlower st<-ms are i)ink, 

 covered with hairs and 

 irimson tracts tipped 

 with green. This 

 I "I ant should have .>-ome 

 stou" chips placed 

 round its crown to ] re- 

 vent its foliage tcmch- 

 ing the wet soil . There 

 is a small form of S. 

 Ciriesbachii rather less 

 Hian half the size of 

 the type. S. Fredrici- 

 Augusti lands iis at 

 once into di'^ifulties. 

 Nurserymen used al- 

 most invariably to 

 send one under this 

 name, either S. 

 apiculata or a bad 

 form of 8. pseudo- 

 sancta, and if you see 

 plant catalogued as S. Fredrika-Augusta, it is a 

 probably either of those imi)ostors (both of 

 which are Kabschias). Then Mr. Farrer gave us 

 a plant very near to S. Stribnryi, with large 

 rosettes^ike those of 8. (iriesbachii, but rounder 

 — and crimson flowers on crinison stems, the in- 

 florescence being arched and then turning up at 

 the end like a dog's tail. Then there is a nuich 

 smaller plant, with flowers in varying shades of 

 pink borne in a juore branching head- I don't 

 know the origin of this plant, beyond the fact that 

 it Avas sent to me as " S. Fridrici-augusti of 

 Bertol " but 1 see it in several catalogues 

 now described as having " inconspicuous 

 pink flowers : " then, to further confuse us. 

 Kew makes Mr. Farrer's plant svnonomous 

 with 8. Stribnryi, and makes the name Fredrici- 

 Augusti a synonym of 8. thessalica ! Mr. Farrer 



S'ax. iStrtbnryi 

 At Knaptoii. 



luainlaJMs. I believe, that his |.l.iiit is a distinct 

 si>ecies. When su<h eminent authorities di-;- 

 agree, one may. without pr.sumpt ion, otTer a 

 sugg.stion. .-Hid I would suggest that .Mr. Farn-r's 

 plant is not a distinct s])ecies, nor is It synony- 

 mous with S. Stritiurvi. but it is a (list iiict rtirirli/ 

 of S. Stril.nrvi,prol>ablv.i local form. The llow.'rs 

 of S. Stril.nryi are similar to i|,ov,. ,,r .Mr. Farrer's 

 Fre(lrici, but are borne, not in .i w.-.-ping heatl. 

 but in an erect, branching, < andelabia -like heaci. 

 The rosi'ttcs of both are very similar. I)\it those of 

 8. Stribnryi are imlined. to form a four-sided 

 mass. Thi- probjil.ilitv of .Mr. Farrer's plant 

 l.ein- a lo,;il r.uiM of S. ,St,il,,,iyi is streiigt hen.'<l 

 li\ I he a]ipeararu-e of 

 yet another plant 

 which I received from 

 two (UtTcrent sources. 

 1 go t i t from Mon. 

 (" o ]• r e V o n as S. 

 Iled.ra'antha, and from 

 Sir .losslvn (iore-Bootli 

 wlio collected it in 

 eompaiiy with Prof. 

 Stribnrvi as "8. i)oro- 

 phylla "of Strilmryi." 

 Now. this ]ilant is 

 und,oul)tedlv verv near 

 t.. both S." [Stribnryi 

 ami -Mr. F'ario's ])lani . 

 aiul is ]irol)ablv arv 

 ..ther local forni. Jt 

 is a better doer, has 

 similar rosettes, and 

 beai-s flowers of the 

 same <'(jlour as the 

 other two, but the 

 liowers are borne in 

 loose heads, and, it 

 comes into flower nmch 

 I'arlier : in fact, it is 

 m iw — 20th February 

 — in full flower, while 

 S. Stribnryi and Mr, 

 h'airei's ])lant are only 

 lomiuencing to bud. 

 The three plants, there- 

 lore, would seem to l)e 

 |iro))erly 8. Stribnryi, 

 the tv])e, and two local 

 lorms of it yet to be 

 distinctively nanaed. 



Of the other two 

 ]jlants that aspire to 

 the name of Fredrici- 

 Augusti in the absence 

 of any authoritative 

 description of the original collector of the 

 species, I should ])refer torecogise, thei>lant with 

 " incons])icuo\i.^ ])ink ttcnvers," as 8. Fredrici- 

 Augusti, and. leave S. thessalica as 8. thessalica, 

 for the pink-llowcn <[ plant is not unlike the 

 Stribnryi cl.iss. whereas 8. thessalica has foliage 

 juoiv like S. Jiurseriana : and if we give 8. thessa- 

 lica. the nanu' of Fre(l,rici as a synonyiri, it will 

 possess two Jiames and the pool- i)ink-ttowereil 

 plant will not have a name at all ! 8. thessalica 

 has blue-grey spiny foliage, and flowers like 8» 

 (iriesbachii, but of a dee]), dull crimson. It is a 

 good doer. Close to this, and. evidently hybrid 

 seedlings from it, are 8. Bertoloni and 8. Gusniusi, 

 the latter with ahnost white foliage and brighter 

 flowers. The true 8. porophylla is an Italian. 

 It is a small, comi)act plant, wdth flowers of a 

 rich Eose du Barri shade, and is possibly the 



