IRISH GARDENING 



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Roses. 



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I l.\ 1 Willi ail .iImioi-- 

 Mi.'il ^iinount ^W MI1I- 

 sliine ami lu'at ;imla 

 Liii'at want of rain, roses are 

 abnormally early. Kven as I 

 writi', in niid-iSIa\", xuv \\;ill 

 r'osi's aro sondinii nu* 

 rtowors every ilay, aiul 

 llunigh they are not up lo 

 standard, still they are 

 roses. Climbitii^-.Spoi'ts, such 

 as Mrs. Grant .uul K. A. 

 \'ictoria, are n^nv in t'ull 

 swinti^. This I think is a pit}', 

 as one can never really show 

 Mrs. (ii'ant from liete well 

 at a show, for the reiisoii 

 that m\' i^'arden is a sun 

 trap, and consequently my 

 flowers of this variety ;iie 

 always over. How 1 should 

 like iust once to tirop on ;i 

 show with ni}' .Mrs. lirant in 

 good form ! I h.ave tried hei' 

 in different places and as- 

 pects, but she, strange to 

 say. glories best where I 

 least like her. I have always 

 considered this variety the best that Alex. Dickson 

 it Sons ever sent out. and when in Newtownards 1 

 mentioned this fact, and was delighted when the senior 

 member and founder of tlie firm agreed with me. 

 Talking of George Dickson, senior, reminds me of the 

 new seedling just on the market which bears the same 

 name. What flowers 1 have seen of this grand rose 

 have been beautiful. It is a grand acquisition to our 

 meagre list of dark-red Hybrid Teas, and, unless 1 am 

 in the dark, it will be a lasting memento of the G. O. M. 

 of Newtownards. All I can say is that I hope it will be 

 good enough to be called after such an illustrious man. 

 In rivalry to this rose, which stands at the prohibitive 

 price of a guinea a plant, there is another called George V. 

 from Hugh Dickson, also at a guinea a tree. The 

 flowers of this rose are somewhat like Alex. Dickson's 

 variety, and when shown here in Naas last August were 

 very beautiful. There was another variety in Hugh 

 l>ickson"s lot which has a curious name — Souvenir de 

 Portland, Oregon— and which, I am told, has been sold 

 to .America. Why it should have gone there is a mystery, 

 as, from what I know, when the Yankees get a rose 

 there from here and want to distribute it b.ack here 

 again, they get the best of the bargain. Take Her 

 Majesty, for instance, which the late Henry Bennett gave 

 us from England. It, too, w'as bought by America, and 

 when sent back to us we were had by getting plants 

 which had been budded from wood buds and not the 

 flowering eyes. This I hardly think will happen with 

 Souvenir de Portland, Oregon, as this rose, I am told, 

 is a free-flowering variet)-, whereas Her Maiest}' is .a 



shy bloomer. .\t any rate, when wc do gel this very 

 line variety back from .America we will welcome it as a 

 rcse of some worth. Vet another rose went and came 

 back to us under another name, its true, hut we over 

 here were not to have a A'ankee christening, and some 

 stuck to the original name. I of course allude to Mrs. 

 W. J. Grant— Slessers Siebrecht, called here Belle 

 Siebrecht— but we were not to be outdone. Of lale, I am 

 sorry to say, I have not attended to much Rose literature, 

 so I do not know very much of other novelties. They 

 may be plenty of sterling merit, but the three 

 novelties I h.ive mentioned are, in racing parlance. 

 •■ .Nap." 



Some New and Choice Saxifragas 

 for the Rock Garden. 



By .Ml [<i<\\ llouMnRooK, Knapton, .Abbeyleix. 



Ml'isr of Ihe spring shows are now over, and 

 no doubt many of us have ticked off the 

 names of new and rare plants that we hope to 

 atld to our collections. The present is an excellent 

 lime for acquiring Saxifragas, most of them have 

 flowered and are starting their new growth, and the 

 wise man buys them at once and does not wait until 

 the autumn. Even if it be too hot and dry to plant 

 them from their pots it is very little trouble to plunge 

 them in some cool corner, and by purchasing them now 

 we pay no more than we do for the autumn plants, and 

 gain this season's growth and a certainty of flowers for 

 next season. 



The following notes may prove useful to those seeking 

 to enlarge their collections by the inclusion of some of 

 the newer and rare sorts whicli they have not hitherto 

 tried. 



S. apiculata alba is rather looser in growth than the 

 type and hardly, to my mind, so floriferous ; it bears, 

 however, quantities of loo.se-petaled white flowers of a 

 good tone. 



S. Elizabeths. — Two or three forms of this are in 

 commerce. The best has very compact foliage, like a 

 dark-green -S. Burseriana, and bears its pure primrose 

 flowers on erect stalks. I have another form with long 

 straggly growths, like an elongated S. sancta ; its 

 flowers are similar to the other, but not so freely borne. 

 Though flowering best in full sun, I find both somewhat 

 liable to burn in the centre in dry summers unless the 

 soil be very stonv. 



S. L. G. Godseft'. or s;incta speciosa. is very near the 

 best form of S. Eliz.ibetha-, and I think superior lo it. 

 It covers itself with flowers of pure primrose-yellow, 

 which last a long time. It is a cheery plant, and 

 with me stands any amount of sun. 



S, Petraschii. — The best of the new whites, very sil- 

 very foliage and fine, pure-white flowers, of good shape 

 and substance. It deserves to be widely known. 



S. Rocheliana lutea is .still very scarce, and I do not 

 think it worth the fuss that has been made about it. 

 The flowers have pale yellow pet.ils, pointed, and not 

 closely set together. 



