IRISH GARDENING 



VOLUME X 



No. 1 14 



Editor C- F. Ball 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND 



ARBORICULTURE IN IRELAND 



AUGUST 

 i9'5 



UBi 



UAN 



Haberleas. 



Among lovers of rock jilauts these are reckoned 

 indispensable for moist shady positions, and 

 rival their near allies the Ramondias in beauty 

 of flower and leaf. Their cultural requirements 

 are fairly simple, and in Ireland, with a moist 

 atmosphere should present no difficulties. A 

 vertical position between rocks and a moist 

 peaty soil suits 

 them admir- 

 ably, and a 

 glance at our 

 illustrations 

 will do more 

 than words to 

 convince read 

 ers of the suit- 

 abihty of such 

 a soil and po 

 sition. The 

 aspect is prac 

 tically north 

 and little or 

 no sun reaches 

 the plants : 

 nevertheless 

 they flower 

 freely. Many 

 of the plants 

 here illustra- 

 ted were col 

 lected in the 

 Shipka Pass in 

 the Balkans by 

 Mr. C. F. Ball, and, strange to say, Mr. Ball found 

 large quantities of the plants in full sun, frequently 

 growing horizontally on flat shelving rocks and 

 apparently quite shrivelled up. The torrential 

 rains, however, which are experienced in that 

 part of the world soon revive them, and by 

 spring they have plumped up and are ready to 

 flower. It is quite possible, however, that 

 under good cidtivation they will flower even 

 more freely than in nature. (*ollected plants 

 exhibit considerable variation in shape of leaf 

 and size of flower. Generally the long narrow- 

 leaved forms produce the snuiUer flowers and 

 the broader-leaved forms the lartier. Variation 



IIaBERLEA FERDTNANDI-C'OBUHCil AT (i r.ASXEVlN. 



occurs also in the colour of the flowers, some 

 being bluish lilac and others charmingly spotted 

 in the throat with yellow and pur})le. while 

 others are nearly white. A pure white form 

 is in cultivation under the name of H. rhodo- 

 pensis virginalis. 



Much the finest Haberlea grown in gardens 

 IS Haberlea Ferdinandi-Coburgi, which is 

 distinct in several ways from H. rhodopensis. 

 The leaves are shorter, much broader, of a 



glossy dark 

 green colour, 

 and with ere 

 nate margins. 

 The flowers, 

 too, are much 

 larger, with a 

 -liorter tube. 

 Iiut the petals 

 more reflexed. 

 i'he general 

 ciilour is lilac 

 with yellow 

 a 11(1 p u r pie 

 markings in 

 the throat. 



Pr()])agation 

 is easy by divi- 

 sion or seeds. 

 .Many of the 

 pieces brought 

 home by Mr. 

 Ball contained 

 dozens of 

 plants when 

 separated, and 

 they soon grow away when potted up in peat 

 and leaf mould with' a little sand ami loam. 

 Seeds are produced fairly freely by Haberlea 

 rhodopensis and germinate readily in a warm 

 greenhouse. When large enough they may he 

 pricked off in boxes and eitlier kept in the house 

 or transferred to a cold frame when growing. 

 In about two years tliey will be fit for planting 

 out. H. Ferdinandi-Coburgi does not seed so 

 freely, but may be treated similarly when 

 obtainable. As "years go by we may exi^ect to 

 see much iuiprovement in the size and colouring 

 of the flowers by saving seed from tlie best 

 forms only. '^- " ■ "• 



