SEPTEMBER 



IRISH GARDENING. 



131 



able, tiny animal-traps, will be t'oand interesting- ; 

 while in the deeper water we may plant the 

 yellow and white water-lilies, with a fringe of 

 the flowering rush (Buiomus umbellatus) and 

 the narrow-leaved cat's-tail {Tvpha ausnistifolia). 

 w hich is a more graceful plant than the better- 

 known T. lafi folia. 



Lastly, we come to plants suitable for the 

 rock-garden, and of these there are quite a 

 number in our Irish flora that are w^ell worth 

 growing. Some of these are well known and, 

 indeed, famous species, such as the mountain 

 a\-ens (Dryas octopetala) and the spring gentian, 

 which grow in sheets over large areas in 

 Clare and Galway. Almost all our alpine piants 

 are worthy of cultivation such, for instance, 

 as the various saxifrages, the rose-root 

 (Si'duii! R/wilio/(i), the alpine lady's-mantle 

 (Alchemilla ii/piiia), the cushion pink (SHi-iu' 

 acaiilis), and the rare Aicnaria li/ia/n, 

 which grows on the Ben Bulben range. 

 Here, also, we may include several dwarf sea- 

 coast species which are very bright in the 

 rock-garden, such as the sea campion {Silcne 

 tnan'-tiwti), the rock sea-spurrey {Lepigonnm 

 riiphola), and the sea-lavender (Sta/ice occidcn- 

 /(ilis). 



The Tulip. 



Ry W. C. McAtef-r, Whiu- Plains, New Yoik. 



THE tulip is one of the most popular flowers for 

 spring- bedding- purposes, and with good reason. 

 It is hardy and easy to cultivate, and offers 

 unequalled opportunities for tasteful and effective dis- 

 play by the variety and brilliance of its colours, which 

 range from the purest white to the deepest black, from 

 dark crimson and fiery scarlet to pure yellow and g-reen. 

 Its numerous varieties keep flowering in succession 

 from the beginning: of March to the end of May, and 

 when planted in masses the effect produced is unsur- 

 passed by any other bedding- plant. Persons trying to 

 find fault wilh the family may truthfully say that the 

 earlier varieties are not suitable for cutting on account 

 of their short stems, but this objection to the family is 

 easily overruled in the later flowering varieties, which 

 are second to none for bouquets and table decoration. 

 The tulip was prized as a flower before the Christian 

 era. Dioscorides, a Grecian, and probably a con- 

 tetnporary of Theophrastus, who lived three hundred 

 years B.C., called the tulip " Salyrium." Later writers 

 called it Tulipa, which is derived from the Greek 

 word Tulipan, meaning Turk's cap. Some authorities 

 say the name is derived from the Persian word Toliban — 

 i.e.. Turban — which the inverted flower resembles. Be 

 that as it may, Tulipa still remains the botanical name 

 of the family. Parkinson, an English botanist, wrote in 

 his work entitled " Paradisus Terrestrius," dated 1656, 

 the following,' quaint description of llu> tulip- "Next 



The Gre.\t Bl-ttekwort in the WKrrEKs G.\ri)i:n. 

 ARRiv.\L FROM Co. Cork. 



INK MOMll Al IKK 



