154 



IRISH GARDENING 



Savoie, a now snow-wliito ol exrcpiuMially bushy 

 and ilwaif habit ; and Ksporanoo, whiih has lar.m- 

 while tlowors with a ijivonisli (.-imUiv. and all liorno on 

 extra long- stems. Cream eoloms are well represenieil 

 by Stella and .Market Yellow. 



A new shade in outdoor ehrysantheniums is l,a 

 l".inonne, with large shaggy blooms of a vieux-rosc 

 eolour which especially appealed to us. Yellows are 

 numerous, but reference must certainly be made to 

 Miss Balfour Melville, deep yellow with old gold 

 tips; the flowers are extra larg-e, and on plants o( an 

 ideal dwarf habit ; a really lovely variety, reminding one 

 in manv points of the glorious indoor December yellow 

 Nagova. Chatillon is another beauty, orange and 

 ochre yellow, with straw-coloured reverse, and liurc 

 is the pure Elstol Yellow which comes in before 

 the ever popular Horace .M.utin. 



No early crimson for outdoors can rival Cioaclur's 

 Crimson, now well knowMi, but there are some pun- 

 bronze and bronzy-crimsons which no one should be 

 without, such as Diana, deep bronzy-orange, shaded 

 with gold ; Tottie, a mass of medium-sized flowers 

 of the most charming reddish orange and yellow ; 

 Agnes, salmon-brown flowers of great solidity ; and 

 Harrie, also an extra large bronzy-orange of lovely 

 colouring. All the foregoing are first early kinds, and 

 average one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half feet in height, 

 with the exception of Mignon (three feet). We also saw a 

 collection of the new single early-flowering chrysanthe- 

 mums, and specially noted Ciem of Merslham, crimson ; 

 Surrey, salmon cerise ; Juno, yellow ; Prince, deep 

 rose ; Dr. Ingram and Dominion, terra cotta and 

 -,alinoii. These are all of dwarf habit, and as they 

 tlower profusely, will be more largely grown when 

 better known. 



The Best 



Single Dahlias. 



SINGLE DAHLIAS are certainly coming into favour, 

 and deservedly so, as they produce very striking- 

 colour effects, especially when grown in clumps. 

 To many people they offer a greater attraction than the 

 show, fancy, or even the Cactus type of flower. The 

 dahlia (named after the Swedish botanist Dahl) is a native 

 of Mexico, and cannot, therefore, survive our north tem- 

 perate winters. The first plant was introduced about one 

 hundred years ago by the Marchioness of Bute, but was 

 soon lost. It was reintroduced early in the last century, 

 but little account was taken of it at the lime. Later, 

 however, their variability being discovered, they were 

 taken in hand by various horticulturists, and soon 

 acquired great popularity in gardens. Being members 

 of the Composite family the ''flowers." popularly so 

 called, are really heads of tiny flowers surrounded by an 

 enclosing whorl (or in the present case a double whorl) 

 of bracts called the involucre. The flowering head in 

 a dahlia shows a central disk of tubular florets with an 

 outer circle of strap-shaped florets forming the "ray," 

 and this primitive structure is retained in the "single 

 dahlias" of gardens. The disk florets in the wild 

 plants were yellow and the ray florets some shade of 

 scarlet, but under garden cultivation the former 

 gradually took on not only the colour of the latter but 



tlieir f(.>i-m o( sli-uctiire .-is well, .-mil il is this particul;ir 

 change that proiluccd liie falsely described " double " 

 flowers of dahlia. 



While tlii-se " doubles " .ire still .ulmiieil by m.iny a 

 cli.ingi' is ci-rl.iinly l.ikiiig pl.uc in ]iublic t.iste, as is 

 evidenced by the l.irge numbi-r ol dillcrenl kinds of 

 " singles " that are now i-.iiscd .-nul vlistributi-il b\- 

 florists. They aiv undoubtedly gr.md flowers for 

 .uitiiinn displ.iy in herbaceous borders. 



Last year the National Dahlia Society, anxious to 

 discover and list the best singles now in cultivation, 

 arranged an extensive trial, and Messrs. J. Cheal ami 

 Sons oftered to carry it through at their nurseries at 

 Crawley under the direction of the society. The trials 

 ha\e been \er\- successful ;ind the results most interest- 

 ing to ilalilia lo\ei-s. Tiie coniniitlei- ;ippointed to 

 ri'|iorl inspeeteil t lie pl.intsoii the i,^th oi last mouth. 

 The beds presented a glorious siiow of colour, and 

 strikingly demonstrated the great value of "singles" 

 ;is decorative subjects. Taking into consideration the 

 stem, iieculi.'iiity of flowering, habit of plant, and 

 geiu-ral appearance of growtii, the following varieties 

 ;ire, in the judgment of the committee, the best for 

 garden purposes : -Amy, Lady Bountiful, Winona, 

 Owen Thomas, Columbine, Fugi San, Kitty, Leslie Seal, 

 Miss Moreland, Miss Roberts, Peggy, Rosebank Scarlet, 

 Butterfly, Snowdrop, X'esuvius, Cardinal, Mrs. Joj-nson 

 Hicks, Ros}- Cieni, Mrs. W. Hood, and Morning Glow. 



Real Border Carnations. 



AiMERICA has given us such perfect varieties for 

 culture under glass that the greatest want now- 

 a-days is a collection of good garden carnations, 

 varieties which flourish outside from year to year, pro- 

 duce an amount of good, healthy "grass " for layering, 

 and give large flowers, and plenty of them, on stout, 

 erect stems. I fear many people are disappointed with 

 the results obtained from planting out the lovely border 

 carnations one sees at English shows, as they have 

 been grown under the glass, and are often improved for 

 garden culture. 



This little article, therefore, deals exclusively with 

 carnations grown in the open air all the year through. 

 Given the qualities already enumerated, perfume is a 

 highly desirable addition, and in the new " Dublin 

 Pink" — here illustrated at the Editor's request — we 

 have a delightfully clove-scented, real border carna- 

 tion. It was greatly admired when staged in various 

 centres for the first time this year, and as the stems and 

 foliage are of the most robust character it will prove a 

 favourite amongst those who love carnations in the 

 garden. It is described as closely resembling a first- 

 rate pink American carnation flourishing out of doors, 

 and this is high praise, as few border varieties possess 

 the size, colour and fragrance of a good tree carnation. 



The new Countess of Aberdeen (so named by per- 

 mission of her Excellency) is one of the finest yellow- 

 grounds for outside growth. The flowers are extremely 

 full, large, and symmetrical, and produced on good 

 stems. 



Lord Carew is remarkable for its vigour, this 

 year having produced an average of ten full-length 



