lO 



IRISH GARDENING 



Coloured Conifers. 



llv J. W. Besant, Koynl Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. 



IN some niintls there is a feeling against the use of 

 all trees and shrubs having leaves which vary from 

 the normal green of the species. It is true there 

 are forms of variegation with little to recommend tliem, 

 and the over-planting of colour forms has frequently 

 spoilt what, by judicious selection, might have been 

 pleasing and beautiful. As a rule, it is dangerous to 

 have single plants doited promiscuously about parks 

 or pleasure grounds, the effect proving spotty and 

 unsatisfactory, this being true alike of deciduous and 

 evergreen subjects. Under the present heading: only 

 evergreens are intended, and for winter effect there are 

 some good forms among the smaller growing Conifers. 

 When planting, informal groups should be aimed at, 

 and it may be worth while selecting positions which will 

 afford a contrast with green-leaved trees. As most of 

 these coloured forms are quite as hardy as the type 

 plants they may often be used in places where some 

 degree of shelter is desired. The most distinct forms 

 are those of a golden or yellow hue, though some 

 of the glaucous blue varieties are beautiful and effective. 

 The forms with white ov cream-coloured variegation 

 are seldom of much merit. 



The genus Cupressus affords some remarkably good 

 golden and yellow forms, among which the varieties of 

 Cupressus Lawsoniana are notable. Three good yellow 

 forms are C. Laws. lutca, the young growths of which 

 become golden yellow in winter; C. Laws, gracilis aurea, 

 a graceful form colouring well in winter ; and C. Laws. 

 Stewarti, a bright-yellow form, very effective. 



Of glaucous-blue or silvery varieties we have C. Laws. 

 .\llumii, a plant of dense upright habit, with a steel-blue 

 appearance when at its best, and C. Laws, argentea, a 

 handsome variety with a silvery-blue tone in good 

 specimens. 



The Monterey Cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa, is re- 

 presented by C. M. lutea, a very fine plumose form, 

 having the young leaves and growths bright-yellow, 

 while C. M. sulphurea, a more recent variation, has the 

 young growths sulphur-coloured. Cupressus nootka- 

 tensis lutea is a good yellow form of the Nootka Sound 

 cypress, while there is also a variety with creamy-white 

 variegation, on the whole not so effective as the first- 

 named. 



The Japanese Cupressvis obtusa has given a great 

 many varieties, among which there are a few good 

 colour forms. C. obtusa aurea, C. obtusa gracilis 

 aurea, and C. obtusa nana aurea are three good forms, 

 differing in habit, and all of a more or less golden 

 yellow colour, very bright and effective in winter. 

 C. obtusa alba has the tips of the branchlels nearly 

 white, but it is less effective than llie yellow forms, 



C. pisifera, also found in Japan, has produced some 

 good colour forms, similar to those of C. obtusa. 

 C. pisifera aurea and C. pisifera pluniosa am-ea are two 

 good yellow varieties, whilelC. pisifera squarrosa forms 

 a very handsome specimen, will) a fine silvery appear- 

 ance, which is most effective. Among the Thuyas we 

 find varieties with much deeper colouring than ihe 

 forms of Cupressus noted above. The .-Vmerican 

 .\rbor Vit;e is prolific of colour forms, capable of line 



winter effects. Thuya occidentalis lutea is a hand- 

 some golden yellow form. T. o. wareana aurea, deep 

 yellow, and T. o. vervaeneana, deep orange yellow, 

 are two very effective varieties. T. o. Bodmeri, a 

 dwarf globose variety, is also beautifully coloured 

 brownish orange. 



The Chinese Arbor Vitae, Thuya orientalis, has one or 

 two good colour forms, of which the best are probably 

 T. o. aurea and T. o. elegantissima. 



Juniperus chinensis aurea forms a handsome speci- 

 men of columnar habit, having the young growths 

 of a bright golden yellow colour. Very few of the 

 pines have produced colour varieties worth growing, 

 but the golden yellow form of Piiuis sylvestris is well 

 worthy of notice, becoming very bright in winter. 



Golden Yews are frequently met with everywhere, 

 and do not call for special notice. Some of the best forms 

 are Taxus baccata aurea. T. b. fastigiata aurea, T. b. 

 elegantissima, and T. b. Dovastonii aurea variegata. 



Cryptomeria japonica, the Japanese Cedar, has a 

 most beautiful variety in C. j. elegans, which changes 

 in winter to a beautiful bronzy red. cre;iting a wonder- 

 fully rich effect. 



Amoiig the Cedars. Abies and Piccas, there are some 

 with the young growths of a wonderful glaucous blue 

 tint, rendering theju conspicuous in winter. 



.\bies concolor violacea makes a pretty specimen 

 when doing well, while Picea pungens glauca and 

 Picea Engelmannii glauca have a beautiful glaucous 

 blue effect in winter. 



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The " Himalayan Journals " of Sir J. Hooker provide 

 very interesting reading for the garden lover, giving 

 one an idea of how some of our plants grow in tlieir 

 native habitats. Extract: — "In the months of April 

 and May, when the magnolias and rhododendrons are 

 in blossom, the gorgeous vegetation is, in some respects, 

 not to be surpassed by anything in the tropics ; but the 

 effect is much marred by the prevailing gloom of the 

 weather. The white-flowered magnolia (M. excelsa) 

 is the predominant tree at 7,000 to S,ooo feet ; and in 

 1848 it blossomed so profusely that the forests on the 

 broad fl.inks of Sinchul and other mountains of that 

 elevation appeared as if sprinkled with snow. The 

 purple-flowered kind again (M. Campbellii) hardly occurs 

 below 8, 000 feet, and forms an immense, but very ugly, 

 black- barked, sparingly- branched tree, leafless in 

 winter, and also during the flowering season, when it 

 puts forth from the end of its branches great rose-purple 

 cup-shaped flowers, whose fleshy petals strew the 

 ground. On its branches, and on those of oaks and 

 laurels. Rhododendron Dalhousia;growsasan epiphyte, 

 a slender shrub, bearing from three to six while, lemon- 

 scented bells, four and a half inches long and as m,iny 

 broad, at the end of each branch. In the same woods 

 the scarlet rhododendron (R. arboreum) is very scarce, 

 and is outvied by the great R. argenteum, which grows 

 as a tree forty feet high, with magnificent leaves twelve 

 to fifteen inches long, deep green, wrinkled above and 

 silvery below, while the flowers are as large as those 

 of R. Dalhousia;, and grow more in a cluster. I know 

 nothing of the kind that exceeds in beauty the flowering 

 branch of R. argenteum, with its wide-spreading foliage 

 antl glorious m.'iss of flowers." 



