SEPTEMBER 



IRISH GARDENING. 



135 



Current Topics. 



By C. F. Ball. Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. 



ONE of the last projects to receive King Edward's 

 support and patronag-e was the International 

 Horticultural Exhibition of 1912. This coming 

 World's Show is expected to be the biggest thing of its 

 kind ever held in this or any other country. As it is 

 held in May the English Royal Horticultural Society 

 have agreed to forego the holding of the usual Temple 

 Show and also to con- 

 tribute ;^i,ooo towards 

 expenses. The site 

 chosen is in London, in 

 the grounds of Chelsea 

 Royal Hospital. 



Although the French 

 and Belgians may beat 

 us in a few specialties, 

 yet in the wide aspect 

 of horticulture Britain 

 more than holds her 

 own. So it seems time 

 that Britain should 

 show her rivals what 

 she can do in Horti- 

 culture, for the long 

 interval of forty-four 

 years has passed since 

 the last International 

 Exhibition in London, 

 which it is said gave a 

 wonderful impetus to 

 the horticultural trade. 

 What a marked differ- 

 ence there will be in 

 the improvement in 

 nearly every class 

 of cultivated plant, 

 whether flowers, fruits, 

 or vegetables. In 1866 

 hybrid orchids were un- 

 known to most people, 

 and now fortunes are 

 invested in them. In 

 1856 Calanthe Domini, 

 the first hybrid orchid, 

 was raised in the Exe- 

 ter Nursery of Messrs. 

 Veitch. Mr. Dominy, 



after whom the hybrid was named, has thus the priority 

 in the operation of rearing hybrid orchids. This early 

 hybrid possessed freedom of growth and flowering 

 unknown in the parents, and thus opened the eyes of 

 many cultivators to the possibility of creating many 

 new and beautiful forms. 



Alter reading several glowing accounts of the 

 Japanese Garden at the London Exhibition in some 

 papers one naturally expected something quite above 

 the ordinary, and worth going to see. Perhaps the 

 accounts led one to expect too much, but my own idea 

 vvas that it is a poor affair, and quite disappointing. 

 Of course the Japanese idea of beauty in a garden does 



Photo by'\ 



not altogether correspond to our own, but even so, this 

 cannot excuse the fact that many of the trees and 

 shrubs were unsightly, some mere skeletons, for in a 

 place like this money should not be spared to make the 

 place attractive. To those who hanker after this style 

 of gardening the TuUy Japanese Garden near Kildare 

 can be recommended as a far better example of the 

 Japanese art ; but even here it is apparent that the 

 Japanese who laid out the garden was more of an 

 architect than a gardener, for the stonework is built 

 more for effect than to grow plants. 



On August 6th the 

 Irish Gardeners' Asso- 

 ciation paid a visit to 

 the nurseries of Messrs. 

 Watson & Sons, Clon- 

 tarf. The members 

 inspected the various 

 stocks of roses, fruit 

 trees, and herbaceous 

 plants. On a lawn good 

 pillar specimens of the 

 climbing roses, Doro- 

 thy Perkins, Hiawatha, 

 and Lady Gay were 

 very showy and telling; 

 Dorothy Perkins and 

 White Dorothy, also 

 on standards, were 

 very beautiful. This 

 firm has won gold and 

 silver medals all over 

 the kingdom for their 

 border carnations, and 

 these attracted special 

 attention. Under a 

 shade of tiffany were 

 about 5,000 plants in 

 bloom, including most 

 of the up-to-date varie- 

 ties. The plants showed 

 great vigour, and some 

 of the firm's own seed- 

 lings were exception- 

 ally free in flowering. 

 Among the new varie- 

 ties of the firm's own 

 raising were several 

 of outstanding merit. 

 The photo shows 

 Astilbe Arendsii grow- 

 ing in the bog bed at Glasnevin. The flowers are of a 

 soft, pleasing pink, something near Queen Alexandra. 

 Mr. Arends of Ronsdorf, Germany, has raised a set of 

 these hardy Astilbes from A. Davidii crossed with 

 A. Queen Alexandra, A. floribunda, and others. In 

 every case A. Davidii was used as the pollen parent, 

 for when used as the seed bearer the seedlings possessed 

 great vigour, but were shy bloomers. The varieties of 

 A. Arendsii are of good habit, and seldom grow more 

 than four feet high. Last July when shown at the 

 London Royal Horticultural Show two varieties received 

 awards of merit ; these were Venus, a deep violet, rose 

 colour, and Salmon Queen, with salmon pink flowers. 



[C. F. Ball. 



TllK NEW ASTILRE ArENDSU. 

 Pliotographed in the Bolanic Gardens, Glasnevin. 



