APRIL 



IRISH GARDENING 



53 



Insig^nis is very distinct and free-flowering. W'fiere 

 spring-bedding is practised, a few beds of netiiophiUa 

 should be sown early in September. The following 

 April it will begin to bloom, and continue to do so till the 

 spring sowing is in flower. 



For its exquisite perfume, profusely e.xhaled in the 

 evening, Matkiola bicornis should be grown in every 

 garden. During bright weather it shuts its blossoms, 

 opening them in the evening, so that a shady corner suits 

 it best. 



Mignonette is a universal favourite, and grown almost 

 everywhere. No one would like to forego its fragrant 

 perfume, and oi late years several beautiful varieties 

 have been introduced. To obtain large, handsome 

 spikes, thin out the seedlings to four inches apart, and 

 the position can either be in a bed, small clumps, or 

 front line of a border. When seed vessels form they 

 should be picked off to prolong the vigour of the plants. 



.\mong old-fashioned flowers, Xlgella hispanica (Love- 

 in-a-Mist) is very curious. .A bed of it looks best, and 

 the light blue flowers last well, and look pretty in 

 small vases. 



Poppies have a distinctive character in habit of 

 growth and an endless variety of colour. Being easily 

 cultivated, they may be sown any time during the 

 spring and summer months. The Shirley poppy is most 

 useful for mixed borders or beds, and nothing looks so 

 dainty and light on the dinner table as tall glasses 

 filled with Shirley poppies and grasses. 



For edgings of borders or small beds in the spring 

 garden, Saponaria calabrica and Silene compncta are 

 capital additions. Pink and red are somewhat scarce 

 colours among hardy spring flowers, and these two 

 varieties of plants are valuable as such. The seeds 

 should be sown on a shady border at the end of July, 

 and the plants shifted in September to where they are to 

 bloom the following spring. 



Nasturtiums are among our most popular bedding 

 plants. They are easily cultivated, and are admirably 

 adapted for poor soils or dry situations, standing any 

 amount of heat and drought. 



The different coloured varieties sown in lines quickly 

 produce an abundance of bloom, and continue to 

 flower freely till cut down by frost. No manure should 

 be given to the soil, as the chief difficulty is to keep the 

 foliage from growing too gross and hiding the flowers. 



Viscaria cardinalis is imdoubtedly one oi the finest 

 hardy annuals for beds or mixed borders. The colour 

 is bright magenta, and blooms with continuous profusion 

 throughout the whole season. 



Helianthus (sunflower) occupy no mean position in 

 our grade of appreciation for hardy annual border 

 plants. The majestic growths, bold outline, and 

 massive flowers of the large growing varieties render 

 lliem admirably adapted for intermingling in shrubbery 

 borders or groups for distant effect. In a wide ribbon 

 border a back row of dwarf helianthus looks well, the 

 single sorts being preferable, while for cutting for the 

 filling of large vases it will be found a decided acquisi- 

 tion. They may be sown either where they are to bloom 

 or on a border at the end of .April, and removed to their 

 flowering positions in June. 



Space forbids giving extended cultural details in this 

 Iiotice other than a short synopsis of the general require- 



ments of the family. Exceedingly interesting and easy 

 of cultivation, this fact should commend them to the 

 attention of all lovers of a garden. The cheapness of 

 a collection of hardy annual seeds places their cultiva- 

 tion within the reach of all, while the varieties to select 

 from gives a flowering period over a considerable 

 portion of the year. Thus it will be seen that the most 

 critical eye and fastidious taste are satisfied in growing 

 this charming class of plants, which are increasing in 

 popularity owing to their imrivalled brilliancy and 

 diversity of colouring when placed in positions suitable 

 to their habits. 



Roses. 



By O'Do.NEL Browne, M.D. 



IHA\'E often wondered how many people there are 

 in Ireland who really grow roses, and who try to 

 do their best to have the best roses that can be 

 grown ; and the more I try to count the more the truth 

 comes home to me that there are precious few. With 

 this person the complaint is, our " locality is not good," 

 and with that one the complaint is, *'our promise was 

 good, but something came and caused a check." Now, 

 whereas there may be some excuse for the one, there is 

 no reason why number two should not have saved this 

 check, provided that the cause was not frost. During 

 the growing period — aye, all the year through -one can 

 always be caught napping by the numerous pests that 

 infest nearly all our gardens unless we are constantly on 

 our guard. I have often noticed that gardens where roses 

 are lightly pruned — I dare not say not pruned at all — 

 are always more affected than those where the pruning 

 was worked properly, and the reason of this is that very 

 few rose-growers are aware of the fact that nearly 

 all our pests have their winter residences somewhere 

 very near our plants, be it wall, soil, or the actual tree 

 itself. How many of my readers have ever gone over 

 a tree, or portion of ctne, with a strong magnifying glass, 

 and examined closely all the structures ? He would 

 indeed be surprised to see things that no naked eye 

 would show, and amongst these minute specks he would 

 see countless hosts of his enemies. And in as much as 

 his plants are lightly or heavily pruned, so his enemies 

 are, ceetcris paribus, in excess or the reverse. We 

 can do a great deal in combating such pests by a 

 very little expense, and when one is repaid by cleaner, 

 healthier plants in summer, surely the trouble is 

 worth the outlay. Some people will say — "Oh! I 

 never bother about them " Perhaps not, but then 

 they are the very first to grumble. Well, we will 

 let that lot grumble. Now let us turn to those of 

 our readers who are willing to fight. To these I 

 would strongly recommend that lovely lillle work, 

 " The Enemies of the Rose," as published by the 

 National Rose Society. It is quite a small work, and 

 the price to non-members is quite trifling, and then you 

 will be able to learn your tactics for the coming war 

 quite easily. The probabilities are that you will not 

 find all the contents of this book in your garden. No, 

 I hope not, but you will learn of verj- many enemies that 

 you knew nothing of before. But what will particularly 

 strike vou is that whereas the force is terrible, the 



