IRISH GARDENING 



J03 



vases. I know by personal experience that very 

 beautiful results may be obtained at times when 

 flowers are scarce by judicious arrangement of 

 foliage alone in varying tones of green. A friend 

 of mine living in the country kept her house 

 beautiful during the planning and developing 

 of her garden by foliage and ferns from a wood 

 close by, using branches of dark blackberry 

 leaves and trails of ivy with the lightest green 

 of ferns and bilberry arranged in tall, 

 wide-mouthed jars. Of course, in the autumn 

 most delightful colour effects can be obtained. 

 Nowadays, when for a few pence one can procure 

 plain glass vases and bowls of all heights and 

 sizes, there ought to be very little difficulty in 

 arranging flowers tastefully and suitably on a 

 dinner table. High centre-pieces, which prevent 

 one from seeing across the table, are very un- 

 suitable, and should be eschewed. It is also 

 unwise to use large and heavy blooms and 

 foliage. The lighter and daintier the flower 

 scheme the better, and the receptacles should 

 be as inconspicuous as possible. Personally I 

 am not much in favour of drapery of ninon or 

 silk as a table centre, but at times some such 

 arrangement is almost necessary and may be 

 used with great advantage to accentuate the 

 colour of certain flowers and deepen the tone of a 

 decoration, which might otherwise be rather 

 characterless. Above all, let your foliage be 

 suitable to the flowers used. It would be absurd 

 to arrange Primroses with hot-house Ferns. 



As I said before, an eye for colour is a great 

 help when we come to flower decoration, and it 

 is difficult to lay down any rules in this matter. 

 Unless one possesses a special gift for the blend- 

 ing of colours it is far safer not to mix flowers 

 at all, but to give each variety a vase to itself, 

 and even then judgment will be necessary to 

 avoid clashing, particularly in a small room. 

 On a dinner table I think there can be nothing 

 prettier than pink (light flowers such as Begonia 

 Gloire de Lorraine, Sweet Pea, Ivy Geranium, 

 or Rambler Roses, with Asparagus Fern or 

 Maiden Hair Fern for foliage). Next to pink I 

 give preference to a rather deep tone of lemon- 

 yellow, not a crude shade. Some Daffodils are 

 exactly the colour I mean. Pink or yellow light 

 up beautifully, whereas blue, violet, and dark 

 red look far too solid and heavy by artificial 

 light. As a rule amalgamation of colours is 

 dangerous, but a very beautiful effect can be 

 obtained by mixing pink and mauve (very pale 

 shades of each). 



One word about the Sweet Pea — a flower so 

 easy to arrange, so beautiful in our rooms and 

 on our dinner tables. It looks lovely in large 

 bowls, but for this it is necessary to have either 

 one of the wire arrangements sold for the pur- 

 pose, or failing that I have used twigs with 



great success, putting them criss-cross fashion 

 in the bowl as a support for the flowers, which 

 would otherwise get into heavy masses. Then 

 for foliage let me recommend that of the Ever- 

 lasting Pea (Lathyrus latifolius), which is 

 lighter than Sweet Pea foliage and not so precious 

 (for who likes to sacrifice future blooms), and no 

 other foliage is as suitable to Sweet Pea as its 

 own, in fact to my mind no other is permissible. 



To competitors for prizes in table decoration 

 I should like to say a few dont's : — 



Don't make your decoration too high, prizes 

 have been many times lost by this fault. 



Don't have the eternal Epergne in the centre 

 of the table, try to be a little original. On the 

 other hand, remember that eccentricity is not 

 originality. 



Don't put too many flowers in your vases, 

 delicacy of arrangement is everything on a 

 dinner table. 



Don't place flowers about on the cloth to die 

 for want of water — no true lover of flowers 

 would be guilty of such an error. 



Finally, strange as it may seem to say so, 

 don't try to please the judges, arrange your 

 table according to your own taste. The result 

 is bound to be better if your own individuality 

 be allowed fair play. " Chic." 



" Pocket Plums " or " Bladder Plums." 



We have received several specimens of the fungus 

 disease called Exoascus pruni, which attacks 

 members of the Primus family, such as plums, 

 damsons, and wild trees, as sloe, bullace and bird 

 cherry. The mycelium of the fungus is perennial 

 in the young branches of the tree through the 

 winter ; in spring, when the flowers expand, the 

 fungus travels to young ovaries of the flowers, 

 and the result is that instead of the normal plum 

 we get an absolutely useless, dry fruit, deformed 

 and varying in size, and often club-shaped. At 

 first these structures are a yellowish colour, but 

 about the end of July they are covered with a 

 delicate whitish bloom. This bloom is really the 

 fruits of the fungus which have burst through the 

 plum skin to liberate the spores. 



If a tree is badly attacked the best plan is to 

 burn the tree, or where the tree is only slightly 

 attacked the branches may be carefully pruned 

 back beyond the point of infection and all 

 primings carefully burned. 



Sprayings with Bordeaux mixture at intervals 

 from the time the leaves expand until the fruit 

 is set, is a useful precaution to prevent this 

 disease spreading. Blackthorn in a near hedge- 

 row may also act as a host to the fungus, so should 

 be cut * out and burned in places where this 

 fungus is troublesome. 



Scene (Glasnevin tram arriving at cross road). 



Conductor to Enthusiastic Rock Gardener en 

 route for Boyal Botanic Gardens : " Eh, sir, are 

 you for the Cemetery or the Gardens ? " 



Enthusiastic Rock Gardener : " Oh. the Gardens 

 this time, the Cemetery later on." 



