138 



IRISH GARDENING 



(jem, Poeticu> onuilus, aiitl otlofiis i iii^iilosus. Tlierc 

 are of course many more which do well for pots, but 

 when means are liniiled tliey cannot beg'ot in the same 

 quantity. 



Narcissus for the Garden. — This list includes 

 ordinary garden varieties which are reliable, cheap 

 and suitable for cutlinjf, but does not include any of 

 the newer and more choice varieties— a few, very few, 

 because there are so many to chose from, are given 

 below. 



Yellow trumpets. --Obvallaris, the Tenby Daffodil, a 

 small flower but very early ; Henry Irving, Golden 

 Spur, and Emperor. Maximus. although the best early 

 yellow trumpet, never seems to thrive in some soils. It 

 does not seem to be any fault in the cultivation. 

 It cannot therefore be relied on, but where it is 

 known to do well it should be included in any 

 collection. 



Bicolor trumpets. — Horsfieldii, Empress, Madam 

 Plemp, and grandis. This last is almost the latest 

 bicolor, and although rather short in the stem is quite 

 worth having. 



Incomparabilis (medium cups). — .Sii- W'alUiii, Beaul\' 

 and Stella superba. 



Leedsii (smaller cups). — Beatrice, Mrs. Langtr\-, 

 Bridesmaid and Waterwitch. 



Barrii (almost flat cups). — Conspicuous, Blooil 

 Orange, and .Siddington. 

 Poeticus (The Poet's Narcissus). — Almira and Herrick. 



Choice varieties. — Trumpets Madame de Graaff. 

 Glory of Leiden, Golden Bell, Weardale Perfection. 



Incomp.arabilis Section — Will's .Scarlet, Vesuvius, 

 Lulworth and Lady Arnott. 



Other.s which might also be included are — Lady- 

 Margaret Boscawen, Incognita, Maggie May (white), 

 Peach, White Lady, Poeticus, Dante and Cassandra ; 

 Primrose Phcenix, and Argent, two good doubles. 



Tulips suitable for pot work. — Pottebakker, red, 

 yellow aTid white ; Due van Thol, red, yellow and 

 white, very dwarf; Chrysolora, yellow; La Reine, 

 white-shaded pink ; Thomas Moore, orange red. 



Early 'I'ulips for the garden. — Pink Beauty, Mon- 

 tresor, yellow ; Keizerskroon, red and yellow ; Snow 

 Queen, Vermilion Brilliant and Prince of Austria, a 

 shaded orange which makes an effective combination 

 with dark-red Wall-flower. 



May-flowering cottatje Tulips. — Yctlinv, Retroflexa, 

 Bouton d'or, Mrs. Moon, li'/ii/t; IClegans alba, W'hite 

 Swan. A't'rf, Gesneriana spathulala, Coronation 

 scarlet, and Macrospeila. 



Dwarf species of Tulips suitable for the rock tjarden 

 are Dasystcmon, liatalini, Persica and Clusiana. 



Among the Darwin Tulips we have Clara Bull, 

 salmon pink; Sult.'tn, deep maroon; Europe, pink\ 

 scarlet ; Pride tjf Haarlem, deep rose ; iintl Ps\'che, pale 

 rose with a blue b.ise. 



5^*' e^* td^ 



Till; 'I'li.ir. 

 . ;i strange anti forreine llowrc. . . . 



Tulip 



with which all studious and painefull Herbarists desire 

 to be better acquainted, because of that e.scellcnt diver- 

 sitie of most brave flowers which ii heareth. — Ji>iiN 

 Ger.\rd, in T/ie Crete Herball. 



Impressions of an Amateur. 



N*.1 one probably who has visited the villages and 

 country towns of England, either in the North, 

 Midlands or South, can have failed to notice the 

 widespread interest which is evidenced on the part 

 of nearly every householder with a plot of ground 

 at his disposal in the culture of fruit, flowers and 

 vegetables ; and more than this, that in the case of those 

 who are so unfortunate as to be without a space of 

 mother earth, strenuous efforts are made by means of 

 boxes and pots and many other devices to indulge their 

 gardening proclivities as well as they are able. Even 

 in the Black Country the most persistent attempts are 

 made by the cottagers and others to overcome the dis- 

 abilities under which they are forced to live, and from 

 personal knowledge one can admit that their effoi Is are 

 crowned with a greater measure of success than one 

 would believe to be possible. In short, it is there the 

 exception rather tiian the rule to find anyone who, 

 having the means at command, fails to take the fullest 

 advantage of them, and to grow such flowers and veget- 

 ables as he can, and in friendly rivalry with his neigh- 

 bours. 



In the rural parts, moreover, it is especially interest- 

 ing to notice the manner in which the cottage gardens 

 show the judicious blending of the useful and beautiful. 

 The cott.-iges themselves, be they of brick or stone, 

 modern or mellowed with age, are invariably covered 

 with roses, honeysuckle, or other climbing plants whose 

 blossoms gladden the eye of the chance wayfarer. 

 whilst the windows (too often, alas, closely shut) are 

 Hlled with a profusion of pot plants, whose excellence 

 many a professional would freely admit. \\\d so on, 

 through all grades of the community, from the labourei 

 with his back garden to the villa resident with his lawn 

 and greenhouse, we find the same instinct at work, the 

 same keen interest displa\'ed in all things horticultural, 

 the outcome of which is not to be measured by the mere 

 worth of the produce which their energj' has brought 

 forth. 



In reviewin.ii gjirdening strictly from the point ofview 

 of the amatem- on this side of the Channel, the most 

 kindly critic is forced to the conclusion that, be the 

 contributory causes what they may, a somewhat dif- 

 ferent state of affairs seems to obtain. The creeper- 

 clad cottage here is the exception rather than the rule, 

 while the cottage garden, if cultivated at all, is filled 

 with the accommodating potato, with perhaps a few 

 cabbages ; of the other kinds of vegetables there being 

 but a trace, whilst fruit and flowers are conspicuous 

 by their absence. How often in passing through the 

 remoter country districts one has observed little groups 

 of cottages, each with a garden plot attached, and each 

 unlilled and trodden as hard as the neighbouring hijjh- 

 wav, of which they are allowed to become more or loss 

 .1 part. In the case of those plots which are under cul- 

 tivation, one cannot but feel that in many cases thing.s 

 might be worked much more intensively than they are — 

 the neglected corners adorned with unproductive rub- 

 bish heaps might be planted with marrows, the bare 

 palings and fences be covered with runner beans, the 

 neglected edges be brightened with some old fashioned 

 herbaceous plants, and so on.. 



