JULY 



IRISH GARDENING. 



103 



Notes from Glasnevin. 



By R. M. Pollock. 

 Eremurus. 



VISITORS to the Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, can 

 hardly have failed to notice during- May and June, 

 in the herbaceous borders and in other positions 

 through the grounds, the tall stately eremurus, standing- 

 well above the surrounding growth. These eremurus are 

 natives of various parts of Asia. E. robustus. one of the 

 best, is a native 

 of Turkestan. The 

 flowers are pale pink 

 in the bud, but turn 

 almost white when a 

 few days open. E. 

 robustus variety El- 

 wesianus has good 

 pink flowers, borne 

 closely together on 

 tall strong stems. 

 This variety is a 

 strong and vigorous 

 grower, and quite 

 the best. There is 

 also a white form of 

 this which is very 

 pretty. E. hima- 

 laicusisapure white 

 coining from the 

 Himalayas. Three 

 others — namely. E. 

 spectabilis from 

 Asia Minor, E. 

 Turkestanicus from 

 Turkestan, and E. 

 Bungei from Persia 

 — are all various 

 shades of yellow, but 

 they can hardly be 

 classed with those 

 first mentioned, as 

 neither in colour nor 

 height are thej- as 

 remarkable. In their 

 own way, of course, 

 they are interesting. 

 Several hybrids 

 have been raised, 

 among them E. Him- 



rob, a hybrid between E. himalaicus and E. robustus; 

 E. Shelford, between E. Bungei and Olgae, the latter 

 species coming from Turkestan ; and E. Warei, a good 

 yellow. Seedlings from this last named hybrid give some 

 very pretty variations. These eremurus have proved 

 to be perfectly hardy in our gardens, and they certainly 

 are a great acquisition to them, but flowering with these 

 plants is a matter of strength, and unless they are healthy 

 and strong, good tall flower spikes cannot be expected. 

 Some of the plants at Glasnevin were over 9 feet high, 

 and all the plants flowered better than they had done 

 before. Care should be taken in the spring, when the 

 plants begin to move, not to let the damp collect in the 



Eremlris. 



From a group growing in the IJotanic Gardens, Glasnevi 



top of the young leaves as they rise above the level of 

 the ground, and a light covering of fibrous material 

 during the winter will not be misplaced. In The 

 Garden for December 17th, 18S1, in a note on Eremurus 

 robustus and himalaicus, the following appears: — " The 

 plants must be very striking in the sun when in flower, 

 but whether they are likely to be ornamental and last- 

 ing enough in our gardens to make them permanent 

 occupants thereof we cannot say without seeing them 

 growing. We believe that at least one of these species 

 has flowered with Mr. Gumbleton for the first time 

 in Europe." The ac- 

 companying photo- 

 graph of a group in 

 the Glasnevin Gar- 

 dens may interest 

 those who intend 

 planting. There is 

 no doubt as to their 

 being "ornamen- 

 tal" and "perma- 

 nent occupants" I 



Sarracenias. 



In connection 

 with my remarks on 

 Sarracenias, which 

 appeared in the 

 June number of 

 Irish Gardexixc, 

 it may be of interest 

 to many to know- 

 that S. purpurea 

 and S. flava, both, 

 as before stated, 

 natives oi North 

 America, have been 

 •-uccessfuUy estab- 

 shed out of doors 

 in many gardens in 

 Ireland and else- 

 where. On one 

 occasion some were 

 found by a botanist 

 flowering in a bog in 

 the King's County, 

 who was after- 

 wards bitterly dis- 

 appointed when he 

 was informed that 

 his record for these 

 not be accepted. There are. 



Bcsaitt 



as native plants could 



however, a few records of the plants having established 

 themselves permanently, and spread from seed without 

 any protection in the British Isles. One of the most 

 interesting cases is that in the garden of Sir Edmund 

 Loder. Bart.. Leonardslee, Horsham, Sussex, where, on 

 a sharp bank sloping south west. Sarracenias have not 

 only established themselves, but have also spread from 

 seed, and I have myself had in my hand some of these 

 seedling plants when they were scarcely two inches 

 high. They were growing in a natural piece of bog of 

 heavy peat of sphagnum, sharply sloping and resting on 

 shaly rock. 



