3° 



IRISH GARDENING 



sturdy, purple flowers. Last, but not least, tin." 

 beauty of the .Efroup is Iris histrioides, with flowers of a 

 lovely blue, with slight yellow markings, apparently 

 a strong grower. Old friends, such as the yellow 

 Jessamine and the Christmas roses, are doing their 

 best. The former looks very fresh, owing to the mild 

 season, but the Christ m.'is Roses have suffered from 

 mud splashings ; their stems are too short. Nature 

 should have provided these with longer stems for wet 

 countries ! The Winter Sweet (Chiinonanthus fragrans) 

 is this year in wonderful flower. It is a native ol 

 China and Japan, and flowers against a wall. The 

 flowers are a dull yellow, small, and borne close to the 

 stems, and very strongly scented. One of the winter- 

 flowering Honeysuckles (Lonicera Standishii), has also 

 surpassed itself, and is a mass of small, white flowers 

 on almost leafless stems, sweetly perfumed and very- 

 pretty. .'Knother Honeysuckle, I., fragrantissima, is 

 also in flower, but not in IheJ same profusion ; it 

 flowers with its foliage, so that the flowers are not 

 as rennirk;ible. In the damp bog-bed we have the 

 curious little Rhododendron parviflorum, which all 

 through the summer looks half dead and miserable, 

 now covered with small, purple flowers, and nuikes 

 quite a bright show. With it we also have R. dahuri- 

 cum with purple flowers. Both these are natives of 

 Siberia and Manchuria, which accounts for their 

 flowering during the winter. Here also we have some 

 of the Heaths, Erica hybrida, the white Mediterranean 

 Heath and the white form of the German Heath, E. 

 carnea var. alba. Elsewhere Crocus Imperati, which, 

 delicate and fragile though it is, pushes its way through 

 the soil and opens a pale lilac flower with soft fawTi 

 backs to the outer petals. We have also C. Fleischeri, 

 a species from .\sia Minor, with small, narrow white 

 flowers and an orange centre, which makes a nice 

 contrast with C. reticulatus, which has pointed, narrow 

 outer segments, pale bull" with dark lines, the three 

 inner segments being pale lilac. C. Sieberi, a Grecian 

 species, is of a stronger constitution, with flowers of a 

 beautiful shade of lilac with an orange centre. All 

 these are quite hardy, but they are easily broken b^' 

 the wind or heavy rain, and should be planted in shelter. 

 Blue Primroses and some of the .Vubrietias are peeping 

 out ; poor things ! they think it's time for Jack Frost to 

 have paid his visit and gone. They will know all about 

 it later on — so will we! We must not forget the 

 Winter .\conite (Eranthis hiemalis) and the .Snowdrop. 

 Primula megasifolia is a pretty little member of this 

 family, with pink mauve flowers, rather inclined to 

 hang and show a deeper colour at the back. The 

 name is derived from the leaves, which resemble in 

 miniature those of .Saxifraga Megasea. Coriaria 

 nepalensis is a curious shrub from the Himalayas, with 

 long, arched leafless branches, covered all over at 

 regular intervals with short hanging racemes, com- 

 posed entirely of stamens with bright red anthers, 

 which give the plant a very remarkable appearance. 

 The W'itch Hazels are now quite gay with their claret- 

 coloured calyces and yellow strap shaped petals ; the 

 showiest of all is the new Hamamelis mollis from 

 China. Another shrub, of dwarf habit and evergreen, 

 is Sarcococca humilis, mentioned in January number of 

 Irish G.MtincNiNc;, which is now in full flower. Unlike 



most flowers, here we have no brightly-coloured petals, 

 but the attractive portion is due to the white stamens 

 which are in clusters in the axils of the leaves. These 

 are the male flowers, and the female ones are incon- 

 spicuous, small and green, hidden between the leaves. 

 The flowers are very strongly scented, and even a 

 small spray will scent a whole room. In appearance 

 the plant much resembles the common Box. As well as 

 the ordinary Christmas Roses we have other species of 

 the group, and among them Helleborus corsicus or 

 lividus, which, when well grown and in a suitable 

 position, makes a very good subject for winter flower. 

 The branching pale green inflorescences, measuring in 

 some cases a foot and more across, look very hand- 

 some with the smooth, green foliage. The leaves are 

 large, divided into three, each sharplj' toothed, with 

 the leaf-stalk and mid-rib or vein almost white. If 

 this plant had no flower it would be well worth growing 

 for its foliage alone. Helleborus orientalis, guttatus, 

 atrorubens and others, commonly known as the Lenten 

 Roses, are all now in full flower. L'nfortunatel_v these 

 flowers, which range in colour from pure white to pink, 

 cream and purple, will not last with any degree of 

 certainty in water. This is very disappointing, as llioy 

 look so suitable for indoor decoration. Some say that 

 splitting up the stems prevents fading, others that 

 cutting little knotches in the stems will do it. but 

 neither of these are certain remedies, and if any reader 

 can offer a solution to the difticulty I am sure the Editor 

 will be pleased to publish an}' information on the subject. 

 This article goes to print a full week before the end 

 of the month, otherwise our list would be even longer. 



Notes. 



Pkt.'VsitI'.s FRACRANs, " The Winter Heliotrope, pro- 

 ducing in mid-winter spikes of Heliotrope-scented 

 flowers." This is the usual description of the plant. -X 

 true description yet may be a misleading one for the 

 amateur. .Seeing the common Coltsfoot well established 

 on a bank, with its bright yellow flowers open in the 

 sun, one may think that it is quite as showy .is some of 

 our garden plants, and yet the veriest amateur would 

 not dream of bringing it into his garden. Yet the 

 Winter Heliotrope is just a cousin of the Coltsfoot, and 

 has a similar root; both are "beastly weeds" in a 

 garden, and both dillicnlt to eradicate once they get a 

 footing — in fact, the Winter Heliotrope has been known 

 to run underneath foundations of walls. .\ wild place, 

 where it has no earthly chance of entering the garden, 

 should be its home ; then its sweet-scented spikes of 

 flower will be useful in January and February. 



DAriixr. Mi.ziREiM is a well-known shrub, useful for 

 town or country ; both while and pink forms are already 

 opening a few of their sweet-scented Bowers. 



Daphnf. Lairf.oi.a, known as the Spurge Laurel, is 

 an evergreen bush growing 3 to 4 feet high, and is now 

 in full flower. If one passes a bush in the evening or 

 early morning one gets its delicious scent even when 

 some yards distant, but during daytime it is scentless. 

 D. pontica is a similar looking evergreen with larger 

 leaves, but, while the former is as sweet as violets, the 

 leaves of D. pontica have a vile smell — ." Paddv." 



