154 



IRISH GARDENIMG 



Roses. 



H>' O'DoNKi Hkownk, M.D. 



NOW is llic proper liaio lo order what trees one 

 reeiuires for autumnal plaiilint^. It is no use 

 sending^ an order in No\ember or December 

 ,uk1 expect to g-et the pick of the nursery. By ordering- 

 now one is able to secure decent, respectable specimens 

 according- as they ripen off. There was a time when I 

 used to order one or two trees of each variety, and 

 were 1 to begin all o\ er again 1 would do no such thing, 

 [fa variety is worth having at all you cannot have too 

 much of it, whereas there are some varieties which are 

 not worth while planting. True, if you have any 

 amount c>f i-oom, you may plant more and miss the 

 space less, but most of the Irish rosarians' ground is 

 limited, and therefore we require what we like best. 

 Broadly speaking, rosarians' choices are divided into 

 two groups — firstly, those that require exhibition 

 flowers, and, secondly, decorative varieties. It is 

 especially among the decorative section that one finds 

 the worthless varieties. Many of them are flimsy thin- 

 petalled varieties, whose beauty lasts for but a shoit while 

 and then is gone. Against this argument the decora 

 tive Rose fanciers may put the plea, that this kind of 

 Rose is moi'e free-flowering in its habit. I agree with 

 this, but the flowers themselves do not last so loug, and 

 vases need to be replenished tin' more often with a 

 variety such as La Tosca than with a variety such as 

 Madame Wagram or either of the Cocliets. Some 

 people would say Madame Wagram is not kind in its 

 services as a decorative variety. I cannot agree with 

 this. As I write, there is a vase of this variety (and I 

 honestly say that there is not a better autumnal variety 

 in the whole rose world) standing in a patient's room, 

 the like of which 1 have never seen elsewhere. The 

 flowers are perfect, and each stitf-shooted truss has a 

 few lasti)ig blooms on it that are a treat to look at. 

 .•\gain, I hear a demur from some reader about \\';ig- 

 r;im being a bad openei- in w^et weather. True for you, 

 reader, but where are the flowei-s which are not impatient 

 of wet ? Wagram is an obliging rose, in that the flowers 

 come ow enorutously thick rods, and at the end of eacii 

 rod there .-ue four or five buds. If you thin too much 

 you get a coarse flower, whereas by leaving a few you 

 are able to dodge coarseness, and should the first 

 opener gum up you have another string to your bow. 

 which may open with a hot burst of sim. Planted on a 

 south wall you get your best flowers, and you must 

 indeed be hard to please if this verv fine variety 

 does not please you. Mr. reniberton tells me that it is 

 no use in aulumn in I'^nglantl, 1 am sorry, but I iim 

 glad thai it is good over heie. .As 1 h'tve said before, 

 I CO isider Madauie Wagram, Comtesse de Tureiinc 

 (to give her her full name), the best autminial we have, 

 antl 1 certainly advise e\'ery readei- to t;ike me at my 

 word and try il c^n ii wall facing south. 



Other fine autumnals we h.-ivi?, to wit:. — Mrs. l)a\Itl 

 .McKee, Hugh Dickson, F. K. Druschki, Gustav Griiuer- 

 wald, Dean Hole, I.ady Ursula. George C. Waud, H. 

 .\rmylage Moore. Caroline Testout. I hardly ever get 

 a really deceni flown- olT Druschki until the autimin, as 

 my gardeit is loo liol in eat-Iy summer ioy it, ami the 



same remark applies to Hugli Dickson. This year 

 ' pegged Hugh Dickson down and I got flowers better in 

 every way than heretofore, and now the great secondary 

 rods are seven feet high and perfect flowers are on the 

 top. The cool of autumm suits these varieties best — 

 they do not like being rushed. With the advent of more 

 Hybrid Teas, our autumnal flowering season is likely lo 

 be lengthened, and as the nights get colder one looks 

 to the thinner petalled varieties to come and help us. 

 Il is here that varieties such as .-Vnna Olivier, Harry 

 Kirk, Killarney, Gloire de Chedane Guinoisseau, Charles 

 J.Grahame. .\voca, Betty, Edward .Mawley. Mr. Stewart 

 Clarke, come to our help, but if wet weather comes you 

 iiiiis/ shade the opening flower or all is lost. There is 

 a charm about the autumnals which is very pleasant to 

 a rosarian— they are the aftermath, the reminder of wha; 

 flowers we have had, the refresher lo our minds of what 

 Ihey have done for us; but, /wi-n'hitc dictu ! they are the 

 Warners of what is soon to come in the shape of horrible, 

 deathly gloomy winter, when our flowers still live in our 

 niiiuls. but. .-lias ! wonc in the g.uclcn. 



The (Ailture of Border 

 Chrysanthemums. 



\\\ W. A. M.WWKI.I, CooHin Gardens, lianaghei-. 



Eri'IIICU lor cutting for decoralion. for market, or 

 for a display of flowers until frost cuts them 

 down, no plants are more serviceable than 

 border Chrysanthemums. In large establishments, 

 where cut flowers are a necessity nearly all the year 

 round, Chrysanthennmis form one of the chief plants 

 grown for this purpose, as by lifting them with a good 

 ball of roots and plunging them in a cool peach-house, 

 border, or in any cool greenhouse, floweis can be cut 

 right up to Christmas, thereby saving and keeping up 

 the show of Japanese and other varieties for conserva 

 tory work. These Chrysanthemums are quite hard\- in 

 Ireland, even in the coldest winter, but I li.-ive knouii 

 them to be destroyed by frost in Scotland. 



In the culture of Chrysanthemums much tlepemls on 

 the use of stout, robust cuttings, and the way in which 

 they are struck. Where weak, puny cuttings are used, 

 or the cuttings are struck in a w.irm, close atmosphere, 

 they become more or less dr.-iwn tluring the pi-occss i^i 

 rooting. Good strong cuttings should be taken from 

 the base of a plant that has flowered, and should be in- 

 serted in boxes filled with gooil loam, some le.'if-moukl 

 ,-ind plenty of sand. Keep the cuttings near lo the glass 

 lo induce sturdy growth, as the nearer they are lo Ihe 

 glass and light the less susceptible the leaves will he lo 

 damp. Only suflicient heat to keep out frost will be 

 needed .\s-some varieties arc shy in throwing up suckers 

 il woulil be best lo cut the plants down ami plunge in 

 .1 frame, watering careftilly until a stock is obi. lined. 

 .Should the cuttings become .affected wilh miUleu 1 liud 

 a good plan is lo dust with stilphur. which compleieh 

 eradicates it. .No great skill is necessary to grow 

 bjrder Chrysanthennnns, as when cuttings are well 

 rooti'tl pi-actically all trouble is over. When the cut- 

 lings are I horoughly rooted and about six inches high 



