74 



IRISH GARDENING 



Muscari Heavenly Blue. 



THK photograph shows a pleasing' com- 

 bination of the Heavenly Blue Grape 

 Hyacinth, and Corydalis bracteata at the 

 foot of a Japanese Maple. This tuberous- 

 rooted Corydalis has white flowers an inch long, 

 with pinky lips, while the leaves and the large 

 bracts are oi a soft pale green. Although it 

 cannot be called a showy plant it is a pleasing 

 one, and forms a soft setting to the rich blue 

 heads of the Grape Hyacinth. Muscari 



Heavenly Blue is a variety obtained by Messrs. 

 Barr & Sons 

 from Trebi- 

 zond, and is 

 the best of 

 the fa m i ly . 

 The flower 

 bells are of 

 the richest 

 blue, with 

 white teeth 

 at the open- 

 ing of the 

 bells ; they 

 appear on 

 stems nine 

 inches to a 

 foot high, 

 and last a 

 long time as 

 cut llowers, 

 they also 

 have a de- Mtscari IIeavf.ni.v Buk 



lightful fra- Whi, rn,,ivii,u- ,,., 



grance. Heavenly Blue has ;i longer period of 

 flowering than most bulbs — from the end of 

 March to May— this is due to the fact that 

 the stronger bulbs will throw up two or three 

 llowers ill succession. 



We give this bulb high praise because it 

 deserves it, for blues of this shade are a short- 

 age in our gardens, and we look to the time 

 when Heavenly Blue will be naturalised as freely 

 as some other bulbs. Bulbs cost about 6s. per 

 hundred, but if these are planted in a bed o( 

 good soil they increase with wonderful rapiditv, 

 and every two years a quantity of flowering 

 bulbs may be lifted without materially lessening 

 the supply in the bed, so it is a \cry easy matter 

 to get up a stock. 



.At St. .Xnne's ;ind Hamwood man\ of us know 



the beautiful effects which are obtained by the 

 use of the Apennine Windflower under the trees 

 and by the side of shaded walks, the stretches 

 of the blue Anemone and the varied light and 

 shade given by the trees and shrubs coming into 

 leaf forming; a picture not readily forg-otten. In 

 such situations the llowers last longer, for they 

 arc grateful for the partial shade provided, and 

 when the)' die down are not in the wav. 



Heavenly Blue Muscari is also suitable for 

 such spots as these where the shade of the 

 trees will not be too dense, and to see it massed 

 in quantity on a sloping' bank in some Surrey 



gardens, and 

 to a lesser 

 extent at 

 Glasnevin, is 

 indeed a wel- 

 come sight. 

 When plant- 

 ing in au- 

 tumn on the 

 flat, scatter 

 the bulbs in 

 irregular 

 m asses, 

 a \' o i d for- 

 mality, a n d 

 whether nest- 

 ling at the 

 foot of a tree 

 or giving 

 colour to a 

 w o o d 1 a n d 

 walk or 

 h e d g; e r o w 

 they will look equally at home and happv. 

 Grouped with some of the paler forms oi' 

 Narcissi, Heavenly Blue is quite attractive, 

 or in the garden soil a mixture of the pretty 

 star-llowered Trilelia unillora or Milla with 

 Heavenly Blue will find man\- admirers. 



t^* i^* ^^ 



Thk Imiitor's Table. 



\Vk have received a tjeautifiil plant, in full flower, of 

 the liard}' Rhododendron raeeniosiim about a foot liij^h, 

 and also Ourisia macropliylla, from T. Smith's Nurseries. 

 This new Ourisia is a native of New Zealand, and has 

 oval leaves, with white flowers borne in tiers on stems 

 a fool higfh. With our present limited experience of this 

 plant we cannot recommend it .as thoroughly hardv ; for 

 out of a dozen plants only four came through last wintei', 

 and these had the protection of large overhanging 

 stones. 



ANP COUVIIALIS BRACTKA1A 



iiilio ill fi-rL':^roniid 



