8 



IRISH GARDKNING 



JANUARY 



with soiiu' of its v.irii'tifs, form llu> liMiliiiir i-oloiir of 

 till* tfioiip. TUcvc is also C. ViStilii and sonu- o\' its 

 variiMic's. The si-i-tioii of Calanllies to wliioli W-itoliii 

 ami W-siila boloni' are amoni,' tlio most popular orv-liiils 

 ^rowii on account of tiu-ir lu-iiii,' comparati\cly easily 

 manavrod. liavini; brii,'lil llowcrs produccil freely, at a 

 very dull time oi the year, and uiruh last a lonj; 

 lime. 



Paifes mij;^iit he written on the various forms of 

 Cyprifiiiliinn iusiifti,; comnionly known as the " Lady's 

 Slipper Orchid," hut here we will only mention a few of 

 the yellow varieties of C. insiir>u: Sandera- is one of 

 the best, and the plant at Glasnevin is a very if<^od 

 variety, with a very pure and larije (lower. Mrs. I*. \\ . 

 Moore is another ijood strony yellow. Amonj; the 

 spotted forms are Haron Schnxnler and llarelield Hall. 

 The very elTective bright yellow tlowers of Oiuitliiiiii 

 Viiri'rosuiii and the HutterHy orchid. (), papilio are in 

 the ifroup. There are also specimens of Cwlogync 

 Moortijiia, Cyiiibiilum Tiiuva ii ii in , and C. Winnianuni, 

 Di lid rub ill III Dcaici and Foriiiosiiiii •riir,nitciiiii. In the 

 porch adjoining- are the (iloire de Lorraine betjonia, 

 includinif .Mrs. L. de Rothschild and Marie, two tfood 

 pinks, anil Turiifonl Hall, a i;ooil white. 



Current Topics. 



Hy ('. V. Bai.i., Royal Hot.inic Gardens, ('.l.-isnevin. 



TIIK interest of the readers of luisii Gardkmnc 

 will surely be awakened by the recent articles 

 on E. H. Wilson's discoveries in China, his last 

 expedition resultinsa^ in such a wealth of trees and 

 shrubs. 



Giood work has also been done by Mr. G. Forrest, a 

 collector sent to Western Yunnan .-md Eastern Tibet by 

 the Bees. Ltd., of Cheshire. In the primula family alone 

 thirty-nine species were collected, of which fifteen are 

 new and others new to cultivation. Also there are three 

 new Lysimachias and a new Androsace. Rhododen- 

 drons, &c., Many of the Primulas are of great beauty, 

 and will be welcome additions to the hardy plants of 

 this country, and will soon be within the reach of all. 

 P. Liltoniana is rather like P. capUala, with the spike 

 lengthened out like a grape hyacinth. P. Biillcyana is like 

 an orange 3'ellow. P. jnpoiiica. P. Forrestii grows on 

 limestone cliffs, and has fragr.-int yellow flowers. Later 

 on we shall hear of many more new plants, for Messrs. 

 Veitch has .cent out another collector to Tibet, who, if 

 he has- a safe return, should bring many good things 

 home. ., So far the Flora is practically untapped from 

 the Sikkim Himala^-as up to their entrance into 

 Yunnan. 



At a November meeting of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society of London, Messrs. Veitch showed a fine group 

 of their winter flowering Begonias. These are plants 

 which have a great future before them, and a house 

 full of theseat Feltham, seen in November or December, 

 is enough to cheer anyone. They were raised by Mr. 

 John Heal by crossing tuberous begonias with B. scco- 

 fraiia. a winter flowering species introduced in 1880 b^- 

 Professor Bavlev Balfour. They do not stand such a 



seven- diying ofl ,is the lulu-rous begonias, otherwise 

 they shrivi-1 up. Siinu- ol tin- best varieties ;ire Mrs. 

 WoA, Julius. W'intiM Perfection, Winter Cheer, and 

 El.itior. .Mi>st of them have received aw.irds of 

 im-rit. 



The absurd boom of the l-'rench system of gardening 

 seems to be quietly subsiding, and rightly so, for it 

 raised false hopes in the minds of inexperienced people. 

 .\n instance is quoleil of a latly writing to say that she 

 h.ul /[J5 in c.-ipital, and thought she could make a living 

 by Fiench garilening. and by giving lessons in sewing 

 in her spare lime. A gentleman who has started on the 

 intensive pl.iii ;ind engaged a French specialist gives 

 the following sensible advice:—" i'lenty of capital is 

 necessary, and an expert must be in charge. The site 

 must be open to sunshine, but sheltered from cold 

 winds, and that the best stable manure must be easily 

 procurable in quantit}' and cheap in price. Under these 

 favourable conditions jQ6o to £,']o profit per acre could 

 be made after two or three years, when the business 

 was rightly established." 



Great excitement has been created among orchidisls 

 by the advent c->f a new white Cypripcdium. It was 

 shown by Mr. Bolton, of Wilderspool, Warrington, before 

 the London Royal Horticultural Society, and is said to 

 have all the elegance and beauty of C. iiisigitc Saitdiice, 

 but of an ivory whiteness. C. Sundci-ee is the mother 

 parent, but the other is not known. The new seedling is 

 to be called C. Bolton i. 



The ladies seem to be coming to the front both in Horti- 

 culture and Botany, and if we take an unprejutliced 

 view, there aie some places which the}' can fill just as 

 well as men. At the annual meeting to hear the report 

 of the National Rose Society the first Dean Hole 

 Memorial Medal was presented to a prominent rosarian. 

 tiie Rev. J. H. Pemberton, who. in acknowledging the 

 gift, said the credit for his own success as a rose 

 exhibitor was due to the work of his head gardener — 

 i.e., his sister. Miss Pemberton. Again, in Botany. 

 Miss J. J. Clark, B.Sc. has won a place on the Kew 

 hcrbariimi statT, which makes three ladies now in this 

 department. 



Lovers of the daff'odil will be pleased to hear that the 

 late Peter Barr, who did so much to popularise this 

 beautiful flower, is not to be forgotten. To commemo- 

 rate his name a Peter Barr Medal is to be instituted, 

 and to be given annually in some way connecteti with 

 the daffodil, the method of distribution to be chosen b\- 

 a sub-committee of the Narcissus Society. 



The Corporation of Bangor, Co. Down, oft'ered a 

 premium for the best design for laying out a public 

 park. A large number of designs were submitted, 

 and that of Messrs. Cheal &, Sons, of Crawley, was 

 awarded the first premium. 



The garden I love has a hedge of box, 



But the lilies against it lean. 

 And the silken rosettes of the hollyhocks 



F"lash crimson gainst the green, 

 And the briar rose showers her petals soft. 



Each one like a golden shell. 

 And the spires of the larkspurs are blue aloft. 



With a bee in each love'v bell. 



