IRISH GARDENING 



I2^ 





I 1k' Rock (iarticii in /\ii<iiist. 



Its li. A. .\1am;\. 



Wl !!■ \ ilu' suUr'V days of August ;irrivo wi* Iti-i^'ni 

 lo soi' llial the heyday of the Alpine jjanleii 

 li.is departed — indeed Mime people assert that 

 after June there is not nuieh to be seen In the rock 

 ifarden. This is, I tliinU. a far too sweeping state 

 ment, thonjjii I 

 quite r e a I i s e 

 that very many 

 Alpines are early 

 tlowerinjj. 



Some years 

 ap'O 1 set about 

 modifying this 

 fallinif v>ll alli-i 

 ni i d-s n in in i* r-. 

 and find t h a I 

 there ate many 

 p I a nt s «■ h i e h 

 will give ns a 

 ^a^oodly show far 

 into the autumn. 



1 n h o t d r y 

 places in santi}' 

 soil Antirrliiiium 

 Asarina spreads 

 its hoar}' foliai^'e 

 i Ti t o large 

 masses o f 

 greyish green, 

 a'n d from the 

 wirv branch es 

 myriads of pale, 

 eream - coloured 

 flowers are pro- 

 duced. This 

 plant begins to 

 flower in May, 

 and goes on 

 almost con- 

 tinuously for 

 months, .and is 

 verv .'itlractive. 



P o 1 e n I i I 1 a 

 nitida, too, is 

 a charming late- 

 fl o w e r i n g i n - 

 habitant of our 

 gardens, spread- 

 ing its prostrate 

 silvery fol iage 

 over some sun- 

 baked stones, behind which very poor gritty soil exists, 

 and spangling itself with rose coloured flowers. I 

 believe the poor character of the soil is a necessity to 

 intluce it to blossom freely. 



On some fairly moist slope (though not necessarily 

 bog) I'ratia angulata runs like a carpet over the soil. 

 This sweet little New Zealand Lobelia almost hides itself 

 behind its pure white flowers from mid-June onwards, 

 afterwards forming ruddy fruit, somewhat like small 

 gooseberries, which remain till the frost takes the 

 colour out of them. 



''.■:i^i^ 



TI»e Larger ;inti greener form, I'ratia arciiana, aisi> 

 is decorative, though with mc it does not fruit and is 

 only just hardy, protected by a glass against undue 

 winter wet. Uotli seem to prefer moderately moist 

 soil, with some amount of humus in it. 



Oown in the bng where its roots can reach perpetual 

 moisture, Lobelia fulgens, with its crimson foliage and 

 glowing scarlet flowers ananged on a spear-like 



growth some 

 four feet high, is 

 most imposing, 

 thrusting its 

 way between the 

 leaves of Saxi- 

 fraga peltata, 

 or a carpet of 

 Mimultis. 



Whenever tlie 

 seedlings (which 

 come so readilyj 

 have been 

 alio w e d t o 

 remain the 

 flower- spangled 

 patches of that 

 lovely little 

 .■\lpine toadflax, 

 I-inaria alpina. 

 are very bright 

 \\'ith their violet 

 and orange Snap 

 d ra g o n- 1 i k e 

 blossoms. 

 Except ill the 

 moraine, this is 

 - an annual with 



me. but it comes 

 so easily from 

 self- sown seed 

 that it is always 

 present and 

 almost perpet- 

 ual, as also is 

 the dainty little 

 violet cress, 

 lonopsidiura 

 acaule. \' e ry 

 frequently, too, 

 the patches of 

 fresh green of 

 Coronillaiberica 

 are at this time 

 still bright with 

 I h e yellowl-^u, 

 flowers w ' ;ri:ide the 



Cann.v J. B. v.\.s l)^;K Scuoor. 

 Hy ptrmission of T/it Garden 



orange, vetch-lik 

 garden so bright. 



The plantain-leaved thrift, Amu ri.-. piantaginea, 

 which is an especial favourite v.ith me, is a splendid 

 plant for continuous flowerlr.g, usually coming out in 

 mid-June, while if (he old blossonis are cut oft^ it con- 

 tinues till October. From a cluster of leaves, some 

 four inches or five inches high, rise rigid, erect stems, 

 some fifteen to twenty inches Icng, each supporting a 

 globe of florets, pink lo red in colour. Frequently my 

 plants have from forty to sixty such trusses of flowers 



