IRISH GARDENING 



75 



Sonic Easily-Cirowii Saxifrages. 



l?y Ri(;i\\iii A. .Malby. 



ONK of the niaiiy iulvaiUajifes of a rock or Alpine 

 jjaideii is the elastic way in which it can be 

 made to fit into the smallest space, or spread 

 over a larjje area of g'round. with equally charming 

 results, while the multitude of plants suitable for 

 culture therein exhibit a similar amount of elasticity 

 in the ease or i>tlierwise with which ilu*\' iua\' be 

 jjrown. 



There are plants by the score which, with the very 

 simplest tre.atnienl, will thrive and look really beautiful 

 tlirout;hout a sfreal part of the year, if not indeed all 

 of it, while others require some little experience to 

 know just the 

 conditions 

 they require 

 and the exaci 

 rn o I li o d o r 

 p I a n t i n i^ : 

 w h i I c attain 

 there are still 

 others which 

 need extreme 

 skill and care 

 to brini; to per 

 fection. 



It is doubl 

 less due to thi'- 

 flexibility — sn 

 suiting thi'- 

 form o( ifai 

 denintr equally 

 well from the 

 b e efi n n e r t o 

 the expert of 

 m any years' 

 standing— thai 

 Alpine garden- 

 ing" has come 

 so greatly into 

 favour. 



It may be of interest here to einnnerate some of the 

 members of that very large family of Alpine plants — 

 the Saxifrages — which make such a splendid "stand 

 by," enabling us to decorate our rock gardens with 

 beautiful and mostly evergreen subjects. 



I will not here refer to the really difficult plants, but 

 such as 1 mention will be so arranged as to lead 

 gradually from the very easiest to the more p.'irticular 

 ones, which need reason.able care in their cultivation. 



Probably Saxifraga umbrosa is the most widely- 

 grown member of this geinis, .and thrives in almost any 

 soil and aspect. Its miniature relative, S. umhros;i v. 

 minor, is however much less frequently seen, and to 

 my mind is infinitely more choice, mantling sloping 

 places on the rockery with close clusters of rosettes, 

 from which rise the familiar "London Pride" flowers, 

 though proportionately small. 



Sax. cuneifolia, too, is a very good plant where .a 

 carpet of low growth is required — 1 find it prefers half- 

 shade, although any ordinary soil suits it. During the 



I'h.itto. h\ J 



.SaXIII; AGA !■.! IZAIll.Tll.K 



dull se.ison of the year the foilage takes on a very rich 

 gieen, while the undersides of the rosettes — which are 

 often visible — are of a rich red colour. 



.Sax. (ieum, also of the same section as the fore- 

 going, is an equally good "doer," and will easily 

 clothe any desired spot, as will the luscious green- 

 leaved Sax. rotundifolia, which in May is surmounted 

 with very graceful spikes of flowers. This latter 

 seeds itself freely, and plants growing in the 

 odd corners — where seed seems to germinate most 

 freely— look extremely well. All the foregoing, with 

 perhaps the exception of S. cuneifolia, do not mind the 

 ilrip from trees — ,'i point of some \alue, as most .Alpines 

 intensely dislike such conditions. 



Of .'I Larger sc.'ile, but where some bctid (and in the 



winter ruddy; 

 piece of foliage 

 is required, 

 .Sax. .VIegasea. 

 1 n varieties, 

 makes a good 

 subj ec t . It 

 grows with the 

 greatest free- 

 dom, provided 

 snails are kept 

 in check — 

 w h i c h seem 

 p a rt i c u I a riy 

 fond of it — 

 and when in 

 early .April it 

 throws up its 

 huge trusses of 

 pink, some- 

 what hyacinth- 

 like flowers, it 

 is a very im- 

 posing plant. 



Of the mossy 

 section, prob- 

 ablytheeasiest 

 t o grow (if 

 there /.< any choice, as they are all good tempered) 

 is S. ciespitosa, which makes delightful green carpets 

 of moss-like growth, spangled in April .and Jlay with 

 myriads of white flowers so as almost to hide the 

 foliage ; of an even closer growth is S. muscoides, 

 though with me it does not flower so freely. 



.S. trifurcata, with its ruddy stems some six inches 

 to eight inches high, and borne in the utmost profusion, 

 is very welcome, while interspersed among these 

 white flowering forms the following pink and red 

 flowered varieties make a pleasing contrast : — S. Rhei, 

 .S. Rhei superba, CUiildford Seedling, S. Clibrani. 

 These coloured forms are apt to bleach soon after they 

 open ; probably .S. Guildford Seedling stands the best 

 of any. All the foregoing thrive in half-shady places 

 where they will not get burnt by the summer sun, and 

 any ordinary soil that is not too sticky suits them. 



In a compost rather more rich in humus Sax. 

 Wallacel makes a lovely bank of bold foliage and large 

 white flowers. This is probably the most beautiful of 



Mtllby 



