74 



IRISH GARDENING 



Spring Show. R.H.S.. Ireland. 

 April 14 and 15. 



An early tiioinini; visit, jusi |iii(.r In jiukiiiu 



cuiumcliciliu. rnllinl cnmiM'litols jlliiillt to !.a\r 



tlw liaii and luirs.'i-vnu-n and (li.risls putting tlir 

 llnisliin!.' luiuli.-s to (lu-ir i-xhiliils. Tliroii^'h Ihr 

 (Murt.-sy of tlu- s.Mivtary w w.-n- al.l.- (.. <|iii< ll\ 

 view llif nianv classes \m\ np U>r cunipet it ion .md 

 exhil.ilion. aiul on anotlu-r pa-.- will he found a 

 roniidete prize list. 



'riie season is a late on.-. ImH the (|,ialit\ oxer 

 all was .-xeellent. DalTodils lor some reason or 

 (dlier were not »juite so good as usual, though 

 many line groujis wei'e on view. The trade 

 urowers wiTe not so manv as nsual. onl\ .Messis. 

 Hogg A: Hohertson and ".Messrs. Sullon .^ Sons 

 stagin- exhihits of DalTodils. Tiiere were few 

 novt'Kies of ontstandinij: meril. tlio.igh one or 

 two unnamed seedlings shown hy tiie Irish lirni 

 wen- very line. ])artirularly a large ])ale trumpet 

 varielv : idher iironunent sorts in their eolle<tion 

 were "Duke of He<lfor.l. (dorv ..f Lei(h-n. King 

 Alfred. .MaxijUMs. (iold.-n Hell. Weanhile Peifee- 

 tion. with i.iuifer. I'leiupo. Cardinal. I-'ircd.rand. 

 an.l manv others. 



.Nfessrs. Sutton \ Sons used a dark ha.kgrouiid . 

 which greatly enliauced tin- appearance of their 

 exhihit and showed up the varieties to i>erfection. 

 I'ronunent among them was a fine epergne of the 

 old Double .Jonquil, al.so Southern Cem, Orange 

 liutTer. Fairy Queen, and Sidiu-y. while King 

 Alfred was also very line, and tlie enormous 

 yellow trum])et variety, Olyiupia, was most 

 striking : (dory of Leiden ami Argent, with many 

 others, were also shown in quantity hy the 

 famous Heading firm. 



3[essrs. K. Browett \ Sons. Kingstown, were 

 stronulv repr(\sented. and had, as usual, a line 

 displavof well-grown useful decorative nuilcrial. 

 Nothing better could be wislu'd for than their 

 bhie and wldte llydiangeas, a mass of l)loom, in 

 four-inch p(ds. Azaleas, Oytisuses, and l*alms 

 were very handsome, and any quantity of the 

 ever iiojailar Aspidistra, as well as I'teris Ferns 

 and S])ira!as. were on view. A feature of this 

 exhibit was a large nujnber oi baskets of Pansies, 

 the flowers large and of beautiful colouring. 



Mcssi's. Chas. Ramsay & Sons, Ballsbridge, 

 the well-known florists, were ])ronunent at the 

 op])osite end of the hall, and had a telling exhibit 

 of choice cut flowers aiul foliage; and flowejing 

 ])lants in ])ots. .Magnilicent bouquets of Jioses 

 w-ere a feature, the chief varieties being I'rince 

 de Bulgarie, Mad. A. Chatenev, Sunburst, 

 Libertv. Mollv S. Crawford. Mad. K. Ib-riot. the 

 famous Daily .Mail Hose, and oth.-rs. Carnations 

 were also iirominent and in good condition, the 

 following being some of the best : — Pioneer, rose 

 ])ink : Lady Northclitfe. salmon ])ink : Scarlet 

 Carola and the old Crimson Carola ; Lady Meyer, 

 flesh pink ; Sunstar, yellow with red markings ; 

 and Beacon, orange scarlet. Aralia Veitchii, 

 Palms, Liliums, and specin^en Crotons all com- 

 bined to add to the general effect. 



Messrs. W. Watson & Sons, Clontarf. who won 

 the challenge cup for Al])ines in the class o]jen to 

 the trade only, also staged a non-comj)etitive 

 exhibit containing many choice and beautiful 



duiiif >liiul.> and ro.k plants. Messi-s. W'.itsou 

 lia\e |.j'ogi-esse<l remarkabl\ sinci' taking u]> 

 h.ndv plants, and must now be i-eckoned among 

 the l.'-a.liny hardv plant growers of th.- country. 



rioininrnt in ihi- exhihit. which must not be 

 .Mnf,i-,.,| uilj, Iheif olhei- staged for CO uq .et Itiou . 

 were si'v.ial .iw.Mf iM.Jding Hoses, in which 

 .Messrs. Wat.son are .-strong believers for s,imm.-i' 

 .lecorative Wolk. The ,hief .s..rls W.le l<:va 

 T.-schendorIT, .Mrs. W . II. Cutbush. Orl.ans. ami 

 t:ilen Poulsen. all sh.nles nf rose ami pink. Other 

 interesting shruli>. were Cvlisus purpureus albus. 

 Cvtisus pra'coN. p.il.' >ellow: l':rica \'eit..hii. 

 white: Cylis.is alhiis. C>t.i>ns .se.ip.u ius .\n- 

 liieamis. Cvtisu.-- purpureus inrairialus, p.de 

 pink : and Cvdonia .Maulei. \c. 



.\niong .Miiines. Iloustonia c.erulea .dha was 

 hciuliful. and Primula .hdiae was also in good 

 form. Auiicula Dusty .Miller, with large yellow 

 tlowei's. was nuich adnured. while clumps of 

 .\ndrosaces. Hiimnla rosea. Draba imbricata, 

 Hrira carnea. Iluustonia serpyllifolia . Daphne, 

 Cneorum. and .\nemone neinoiosa purpuri-a 

 testified to the cultuial skill of Messrs. Wat.son, 

 and added a distinct <harm t«t the show. 



In their exhibit which won the challenge cuji 

 many choice plants were displayetl in (juantily. 

 .\mong (dhers wi' noted line groui)s of I'limula 

 rosea grandifloi-a, .\uricula .Mrs. S. Hobinson, 

 Ranunculus anq)lexicaulis, .\rabis aiiljrietioides. 

 Sax. rocheliana lutea, S. aretioides, J'rinuila 

 viscosa, \'iola giacilis Criiuson Crown, .\ndrosaci' 

 sempervivoides. Lit hospei-nuim lleaveidv Hliie. 

 llelichrvsum bi-llidioides. \c. 



Tlie Tally .Nurseries, Kildare, who weiv pla.cd 

 second, had" mimerous line grv>u|)s ot good things, 

 but lacked something in arrangenu-nt. i'ronn- 

 nent in their exhibit were .Vnilrosace Chumbyi, 

 Morisia hypogaja, Om])halodes cap])a(h>cica, 

 Viola gracilis, Arenaria balearica, ^^'ahlenbergia 

 ser])yllifi)lia, Prinnila calycina. Mazus radicans, 

 Primula glaucescens, Piinuda marginata, and 

 other good things. 



.Miss .lohn.son, who is earning a reimtation for 

 hai'dv plants, also exhibited in this class, and had 

 .some good .lots of the dark form of J'rinuila 

 .luliac. P. i)ubescens alba, P. Wintci-i. .Androsace 

 Laggeri, .Auhrietia Bridesmaid, .\nemone Pulsa- 

 tilla, and .Lthionema schistosum. 



In the class for twelve ])ans of .\lpines there 

 was, unfortuiuitely, but one competitor — namely, 

 Mrs. (ireer, of Curragh Grange. These were the 

 best i>ans yet sliown in this class, and comprised 

 the following : — Sax. Boryi, S. dalmatica, I'rimula 

 .luliae, 1*. fron(h)sa, .Mazus rugosus, Myosotis Huth 

 Kisher. .\ndrosace sarmentosa, (ientiana verna, 

 .\ndrosace Laggeri, Oxalis ennea])hylla, very line ; 

 \'iola gracilis, and llelichrysum bellidioides. 



Ilaj'dy cut flowers were, as usual in Dublin, 

 vej-v good, though the late season was against 

 the'im-lusion of some of the choicer .sorts. Caj)t. 

 Hiall. who took lirst honours in the largest class, 

 show.'d good vases of .Magnolia stellata, Hhodo. 

 arbori'um, Erica arborea, Acacia dealbata, 

 Spira-a Thunbei'gii, &c. In J^ady Talbot Power's 

 exhibit we noted good lots of Iris stylosa, Por- 

 sythias, Cydonias, Grevillea rosmai'inifolia, &c. 

 Other good things noted in this class were Ompha- 

 lodes verna, very pretty as a cut flower, also the 

 old double Wallflower and Pritillarias. 



To lovers of al])ines one of the iiiost interesting 

 exliihits was a non-conq)etitive one from Mr. 

 MuiTay ilornibrook. It was composed chiefly of 

 rare Saxifrages, of which, as readers of Irish Gak- 



