[RTSH GARDENING 



119 



also never leave salmons too long in water, tliey 

 are very apt to run i 1 the colour and spoil the 

 ^\■hole vase. It is very good experience for all 

 of us to do a little experimenting before the 

 shows in trying the blooms in water, and see for 

 ourselves the results in the different peas. 

 Those of us who grow peas just for decorative 

 purposes alone will, of course, find it much 

 easier, but what a difference in quality of the 

 blooms. 



With a little trouble in following in a rough 

 kind of way the exhibition style of groAving jour 

 peas for decorative purposes, such as a little 

 tlisbudding of the stems and side shoots, or 

 laterals, watering when necessary, using a little 

 artificial ma- 

 nure and a 

 little liquid 

 occasionally, 

 keeping off 

 all .seed pods. 

 &c., we shall 

 find a vast 

 difference in 

 the q u a 1 i t y 

 of the blooms 

 both in size, 

 c o I o u r and 

 length of stem, 

 and will find 

 also that the 

 ])eas continue 

 to bloom 

 much longer 

 and better. 



Pratia 

 arenaria. 



<^''0-^^^i 







I'liofo h//\ 



Phatia arexaria. 



Amore unique 

 or accommo- 

 dating plant would be difficult to find than Pratia 

 arenaria for imparting a verdure of low-creeping 

 green foliage and a profusion of small starry- 

 white fiowers to fill a damp spot in the rock 

 garden. Anyone who has seen a patch of this 

 plant thriving could not fail to appreciate its 

 charming effect. 



The plant keeps in close contact with the 

 soil, and the tiny white flowers are produced 

 for several weeks, scarcely attaining half an inch 

 in height, and, given suitable conditions extends 

 its radius to almost unlimited bounds if not 

 kept in check. 



The subject of the illu.stration de|)icts a well- 

 established patch in a semi-shaded position at 

 the base of some rock-work ; the soil in which 

 it is growing is composed of loam and lea' soil 

 in about equal proportions. There it thrives 

 in a remarkable manner, annually endeavouring 

 to encroach upon the neighbouring plants, and 



if not thus prevented, it would certahily be a 

 case of the "" survival of the fittest."' 



The plant produces seeds in abundance, and 

 is easily propagated by sowing the seed as soon as 

 ripe ; division of the plant also secures another 

 means of artificial increase. — H. C. Elsdon. 



Olearia ilicifolia. 



The true plant of this name is by no means 

 common, but to lovers of rare shrubs it has 

 much to recommend it. The better known 

 0. macrodonta usualty does duty for it, but is 

 altogether distinct. The leaves are scarcely 

 more than half as broad as those of O. macro- 

 donta, and 

 taper to a fine 

 spiny point. 

 '^i'lip undulate 

 margins are 

 sharply tooth- 

 ed, the teeth 

 being quite 

 stiff and hor- 

 ny. The upper 

 surface of the 

 leaf is greyish 

 green incolour 

 the under sur 

 face furnished 

 with a dense 

 silvery gre}^ 

 felt'. The 

 flower heads 

 are produced 

 ii) corymbs 

 rather sinnlar 

 to, but more 

 compact than 

 those of O. 

 macrodonta, 

 and appear some weeks later. In the Dublin 

 district young plants occasionally have the leaves 

 injured by frost, but as they get older and grow 

 above the frost line, it is probable that O. 

 ilicifolia will be quite hardy. Our illustration is 

 of a young plant, which has been growing in a 

 shrubbery in the Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin 

 for some two or three j'ears. 



Gentiana Froelichii. 



This is an easy Gentian to grow, it is astonishing, 

 therefore, that it is so rarefy seen in gardens. 

 It comes I believe from Carinthia and Eastern 

 Europe, and grows here quite freely in a mixture 

 of peat and leaf mould rather low down on the 

 rockery in nearly full sun. Its foliage is very 

 narrow, and its fiowers are of the most wonderful 

 Cambridge l)lue, without spot or marking t)f any 

 kind. Withmethe ])lant increases, but slowly, and 

 is considerabh- smaller than G. Acaulis. — M. H. 



[H. C. Elsdon. 



