3o 



IRISH GARDENING 



Primula capitata. 



By Murray Kornibrook, 

 Abbevleix. 



Knapton, 



Of the Primulas of Himalayan origin thai I grow, 

 P. capitata lias, on the whole, proved the most 

 satisfactory. It nol only blooms profusely but 

 continues in flower for an exceptionally long 

 period. It is usually termed a summer bloomer, 

 but I have had plants in flower last season from 

 spring until mid-October, when an isolated frosl 

 cut them off. The accompanying photograph 

 was taken in 



t he last w eek 



of Sep1 ember. 

 P. capitata is 

 most (list inn . 

 throwing up 

 well a bove i1 s 

 rosette of 

 leaves erect, 

 powder- white 

 stems sur- 

 mounted by 

 globular heads 

 of flowers 

 which, in its 

 besl form, are 

 of a most won- 

 derful violet- 

 Is 1 u e, d e ep 

 ;ind pure in 

 1 one. Its one 

 ilr.-iw back is 

 the biennial 

 habit it ac- 

 quires, under 

 cerl ain condi- 

 tions, and to 

 avoid these 

 conditions is 

 t he aim of 

 the cultiva- 

 t or. .M y own 

 experience i ■ 



thai it is capricious how capricious one may 

 realise when j,one endeavours to reconcile the 

 diverse instructions given to us by authorities. 

 Some tell us to grow it " with its feel in water: 

 others, " in well drained lighl soil on a sloping 

 bank ; " others again, in peal and shade: and I 

 have been told as an "infallible" method of 

 maintaining their perennial character, to cui off 

 all the flower stems before seed is sel and to 

 divide and replanl immediately the blooming 

 season is past. 1 have tried all these methods, 

 and my experience is thai in identical situations 

 some plants will die off and other- survive, 

 increasing in strength and size, the proportion 

 of survivors varying in differenl situations and 

 suds. .My own experience is thai with this 

 Primula everyone musl buy his own experience, 

 experimenting with plants in various -oils and 

 situations until the ideal for U"il particular gardt n 

 be found. \- far as my garden is concerned, 

 the " feel in water " theorj is invariably fatal, the 

 plants resenl the winter paddling like anj sensible 

 human beings, and if they u r et it promptly die. 



On the ot her hand, those in lighl soil on sloping 



hanks are liable to go off suddenly, especially in 

 dry spells, and my successes have always been in 

 level spots in sandy loam, peat and leaf-mould, 

 cool at the roots, but never wet, and receiving 



quite a fair share of sunshine. In such a position 

 are they shown in the photograph, growing in a 

 bed about twelve feel long at the foot of rock 

 work. Here they grow and flourish, and I 

 neither cut off the flower stem- or divide the 

 plants but I grow each year seedlings to replace 

 those that unaccountably die off. Last season I 

 lost very few, and the majority of the plants in 

 the photograph are two or three years old. I 

 find a< a rule thai a plant which survive- its 

 seeding period may be expected to survive the 

 winter, and will be even stronger the following 

 season. One has, however, to examine the plants 

 from time to time, especially alter heavy rains. 

 i'.n- somel imes t hese cause practically t he whole of 



the roots to 



I'l.'i.MI !.\ I \HTATA 



lolling drunk- 

 ei 1 1 v on its 



side, hut if the 



crown is at 

 danted 



it usu- 



makes 



root - 

 bv the 



I do 



k n o w 



i e r e the 



riginal stock 



anie from, 



1 have 



received vari- 

 ations, both 

 in colour and 

 size. from 



t ime to t ime. 

 The form I 

 have ret ained 

 is very vigor- 

 ous, and has 

 except ionally 

 deep coloured 

 (low ers, which 

 I have never 



hut shall do 



do not lose 1 heir colour in t he sun. 

 t pied it in full sout hern exposure 



SO next sea-oil : it come- so freely from seed one 



can a fford I experiment wit h it . 



& 



Skim .m SPE( 'twin i v.. 



Many of the Sedums or Stonecrops, as they are 

 commonly called, make excellent subjects for the 

 rock garden, bul at leasl one species (S. spectabile) 

 is worth} of a place in the herbaceous border. 

 'This Japanese species is ;i vigorous grower, 

 usually attaining a heighl of from 1 '. to '2. feet. 



The flowers are produced in September, and are 

 aboul half an inch in diameter. Thej .ire usually 

 pink, hut the exad -hade varies considerably in 



differenl plant-. Being horne in cymes on the 

 tops of the stems they are very conspicuous. 



The besl variety for the border is that known as 

 atro-purpureum, which bears Mowers of a beauti- 

 ful ruby red. Sedum spectabile is not infre- 

 quently grown as a window plant, and is quite 

 amenable to pot culture. 



S. R. 



