IRISH GARDENING 



March, was rather curious, Aquilegia flabellata, 

 Geraniuiu cinereiuu album, and one or two other 

 species suffered from crown rot, whereas Andro 

 saces sailed through without " glazing. " Andro - 

 sace sarmentosa on the main bank suffered to 

 some extent, but even when" glazed" I find some 

 rosettes " go off." On the m.oraiue this species 

 and also the hairier A. Cluimbyi came through 



A. sarnientt 



a ledge of 



without hanu. 

 sandy soil with 

 a sharp slope, 

 and also on a 

 well drained 

 ridge surfaced 

 with chips, lost 

 but one or two 

 rosettes, so that 

 with ain.i)le sur- 

 face and under- 

 ground (Iraiuagr 

 the protection 

 by glass seems 

 to be unneces- 

 sary. Still talk- 

 ing of Andro- 

 saces, I mvist 

 extol A. lactea ; 

 this species 

 form.s tufts of 

 bright green 

 foliage and bears 

 a profusion of 

 white flowers, 

 starry or cir- 

 cular in outline, 

 with a yellow 

 eye, the bud,'- 

 o f t e n t i ng e d 

 with d e 1 i c a t'e 

 pink. My best 

 plants are in 

 |) e a t in h a 1 f 

 shade, but it is 

 also quite satis- 

 factory in sandy 

 loam and mor- 

 aine in t\il\ 

 sun. Tn the 

 i.u.i'aiui-. which 



whiiistiiur ciiins. 



sand, and about 



one -tenth peat 



or loam , Iris 



cristata is just 



in bloom. The 



soft la ven de r 



blue flowers, 



with a bright orange crest on the falls, always 



delight me. I have it growing happily in sandy 



loam, peat and nioraine ; the foliage is strongest 



in tlie peat, but tlie flowers are jvist as large on 



the moraine plants as the others. 



Another delightful little Iris, rarely seen, is 

 I. arenaria. This, raised from seed, has flowered 

 with me for the first time this year ; it forms a 

 straggling mass of leaf tufts about 3 inches higli, 

 from which the flower-stalks rise to a height of 

 4 to (i inches; each bears three flowers, opening in 

 succession. The flowers are a soft pure yellow- 

 with orange crest and a few brown pencillings at 

 the throat ; the colour is so beavitiful .and the 

 whole jjlant so exquisitely pro])ortioned, that I 

 never tire of looking at tlie plant while the 

 flowers last, which is, alas ! only ime day. ^[y one 



.\ri'. .1. \inr 



Assist. -Sr 



l)lant seems quite hap|)y in tlie sandy, gritty soil 

 of wliat I call tlie Saxifrage plateau. The 

 germination of Iris seeds is somewhat erratic. 

 I. chamseris, whicli, in tones of white, pale sea- 

 green and sulphur, is most attractive, germinates 

 readily ; I. pumila vera is slow and irregular ; 

 one batch sown in 1913 gave one plant early in 

 1914, one in autumn, and a further one this 

 spring ; anotlier pan sown at the same time did 



nothing till tliis 

 siiring, w h e n 

 four plants ap- 

 peared. Fortu- 

 nately when 

 they do appear 

 t ii e r e is no 

 (1 i ffic ul ty in 

 growing them. 

 I. mellita sown 

 at the same time 

 has not yet 

 condescended to 

 appear. How- 

 ever, seed rais- 

 i n g teaches 

 patience, and I 

 do not yet des- 

 pair of I. mellita 

 for Gent i ana 

 angulosa and 

 R a n VI n c u 1 u s 

 a n e 111 o n o i d es 

 sown in Xovem- 

 ber, 1912, did 

 not germinate 

 till this spring ; 

 .\r e c o n o p s i s 

 liunicea, sown 

 in September, 

 1 9 1 3, did not 

 germinate till 

 April of this 

 year. This is 

 rather curious, 

 as Meconopsis 

 sown in August 

 or Se ptem be r 

 usually germi- 

 nates in about 

 a fortniglit even 

 in a cold frame, 

 at least I have 

 found M. Walli- 

 chii, integrifolia 

 racemosa, and 

 sinxiata latifolia 

 I'akks AND ( i \:;i)i:\-. ( .i.v-cow. do so. But even 



the seeds of tlie 

 same species seem to vary greatly in germinating 

 power. M. sinuata latifolia sown at the same 

 time as M. jiunicea germinated readily in two to 

 three weeks; owing to lack of time the plants 

 remained in the original pan till this sin-ing. and 

 wlien I came to prick tliem out I found a flourish- 

 ing crop of youngsters which had just germinated 

 in connianv with the ])lants of last season's 

 growth. The diffic-idty I find when writing or 

 talking about one's plants is to know when to 

 stop, but the sheets in front of me indicate that 

 it is time I did so. therefore I will leave over till 

 another issue notes on Gentiana verna seedlings 

 and several plants of merit, such as Oenothera 

 ovata, Erodhim macradenum album, &c., which 

 I intended to talk about. 

 Sandvmount. K. B. Anderson. 



