92 



IRISH GARDENING. 



and evening hours afford and I should like to follow up 

 my last month's remarks on this subject by offering the 

 advice that a mere sprinkling of the surface of the soil 

 is productive of more harm than good. Out-door water- 

 ing, unless it is done thoroughly, is belter left alone. 

 Surface sprinklings evaporate with the rising sun, never 

 having reached the roots, and leave the surface soil dr\- 

 and hard instead. Watering, to be of any material 

 service, must be given in quantity sufficient to reach 

 down to the roots of the plants, and the less frequent 

 its application is made necessary llie better. The 

 following day the Dutch hoe should be plied through 

 all the beds where water has been used so as to leave 

 a loose surface and prevent evaporation. 



Sweet Peas. — Butter boxes, small barrels and tubs 

 make fine receptacles for growing sweet peas, and in 

 this portable condition can be moved about at will. 

 Paint the boxes green or stone colour, which removes 

 any unsightliness in that direction. Varieties should be 

 chosen of the King Edward type, as dark sorts fill the 

 eve better than white or light blues. I noticed this 

 repeatedly last year when seeing them in various places. 

 Again, pinch the growths at six feet high to induce a 

 compact, free-flowering mass all round. This also 

 applies to lines of sweet peas used for screens. Last 

 season I saw a splendid screen behind a carnation 

 border entirely made of sweet pea. Miss Willmott. They 

 were cut over at six feet high, and the result was a mass 

 of bloom from the ground to top, and was much 

 admired. 



Phor.milM Texax. — .Much has been written of late as 

 to the suitability of this plant for commercial purposes. 

 P'or flower garden work it is a distinct and effective 

 plant, creating a tropical effect, and large clumps quickly 

 form when planted in well-manured ground. Perhaps 

 ii is not generally known that the variegated form is 

 hardier than the green. 



Flowering Shrlbs. — Of late years, with the decline 

 in the cultivation of coniferous trees, which in time 

 become monotonous, the interest in our lovely flowering 

 trees and shrubs has been greatly revived. Those who 

 are unacquainted with flowering shrubs should take the 

 opportunity of seeing a good collection, and making 

 note of what may be suitable for their several gardens, 

 and planting same in the late autumn. Deciduous 

 spring flowering shrubs are more graceful and airy in 

 appearance as compared with evergreens, and well 

 repay all that can be done for them. 



Wallflower. —Thoughts of suitable subjects to fill 

 the beds next October must now be considered. Apart 

 from bulbs, nothing is sweeter during the spring months 

 than beds of good wallflower. Those who desire 

 fragrance in their gardens cannot afford to be without 

 them. The seed should be sown in the open ground 

 not later than the middle of June. When the plants are 

 ready for transplanting, this should be done before they 

 get leggy and the roots matted into one another. The 

 summer quarters should be open and sunn)', and the 

 soil not too rich. Give a foot between the lines and six 

 inches between the plants. By the end of October nice, 

 useful stuff will be ready for the flower beds. To keep 

 the plants compact and dwarf it is a good plan to go 



over them when they commence to grow in the nursery 

 lines and pinch out the top of each. 



HuMEA Elegans. — This very useful decorative plant 

 is not seen as often as its merits deserve. For centres 

 to groups, large vases or conservatory decoration it is 

 equally suitable, and w^ell grown plants command 

 admiration, and are not soon forgotten. Seed should be 

 sown early this month in well-drained pots, and covered 

 very slightly with finely-sifted, sandy soil. Cover the 

 seed pot with a pane of glass, and place in a cold frame 

 till the young plants appear, then place in the light to 

 keep from drawing. When fit to handle prick off into 

 boxes or pans. Pot off singly when three inches high 

 into four-in.:h pots, in which they should remain till the 

 following January, when a shift into seven-inch pots will 

 then be safe. A further shift in April to nine and ten 

 inch pots will make handsome plants to adorn any flower 

 garden during the following summer. Pot-bound plants 

 carefully watched with respect to water come through 

 the winter best, and they should never have more than a 

 greenhouse temperature. The humea is a gross feeder 

 in the spring, and should be potted in a mixture of good 

 loam, sand, and rotten manure. In cold, wet soils the 

 plants should be plunged pot and all into the beds they 

 are intended to fill, and watering during the summer 

 should not be neglected. 



Winter Flowering Pelargonr.ms. — .Assuming that 

 these have been growing on from the cutting pot last 

 February the)' will now be ready for a final shift to six- 

 inch pots. Towards the end of June they may be placed 

 by the side of walks or other convenient place, where 

 the\' can be fully exposed to the sun. When established 

 in these pots feed with some of the well-known fertilisers. 

 Pinch the growths at the second leaf so as to induce a 

 bushy habit, and keep all flowers oft till the middle of 

 September. By the end of that month they should then 

 be placed in a light, airy house, with a temperature of 

 aliout 50 degrees, after which flowering will be main- 

 tained all through the winter. 



Sligs. - Up to the present date (May 20th) the month 

 has been exceptionally dry, but if showery weather 

 follows we may also expect that slugs will be trouble- 

 some. They eat away the outer portions of the leaves, 

 and young and tender shoots fall a ready prey to the 

 hungry slugs. Dusting of mixed soot and unslacked 

 lime around the base of the plants saves them from 

 .itlack. .Sifted coal ashes round many kinds of her- 

 baceous plants is also useful. The soot and lime should 

 lie renewed every week till the stems and leaves of the 

 plants are well advanced. 



Bl LBS AFTER FLOWERING. —It is best to leave bulbs 

 that have flowered in the spring garden as long as 

 po.ssible in the ground ; but to make room for the sum- 

 mer display they are often hurriedly turned out and 

 treated with scant after-attention. The belter plan is 

 to lift carefully with all their roots and replant thickly 

 in a shad)' position. There the)' will gradually ripen off, 

 and when the rush of bedding time is over the bulbs can 

 be lifted, cleaned, and stored, and be ready for planting 

 out again in autumn. By doing this the bulbs are saved, 

 and better results follow another year. 



