IRISH GARDENING 



135 



Notes on some Irish Gardens. 



By Miss M. L. King. 



I AM asked by the Editor to give my impressions 

 of Glasnevin and a few other gardens in the 

 neighbourhood of Dublin, which I was fortunate 

 enough to visit about the end of June. For this 

 I must trust to a very deficient memory, for the 

 only notes I took were of plants previously 

 unknown to me. 



My general impression is that these gardens 

 are dreams of beauty ! arranged to give equal 

 pleasure to the artist, the botanist, and the 

 gardener. In this favoured land most gardens 

 appear to possess a river, or at least a lake ; a 

 background of forest trees and alluvial soil, with 

 good granite drainage. Rare shrubs not only 

 grow but 

 flower profu- 

 sely. Senecios 

 a n d Olearias 

 make foamy 

 m asses of 

 wb ite and yel- 

 low ; Drimys 

 Winter! and 

 Tricuspi- 

 daria mingl e 

 their white 

 and red blos- 

 soms : Abuti- 

 lon vitifoliuin 

 makes stan- 

 dard bushes, 

 and Pittospo- 

 ru ms allow 

 themselves to 

 be cut into 

 neat hedges. 

 All this at 

 first excites 

 and bewilders 

 one : but it is 

 wonderful 

 how soon one 

 grows accus- 

 tomed to 

 these marvels 

 and takes 

 them for 

 granted. 



Even here all gardens are not equally favoured. 

 Glasnevin claims, I believe, to possess a clay soil 

 and poor climatic conditions ; but this does not 

 prevent them from growing Gunneras of a most 

 prodigious size, each of whose leaves would 

 shelter a family. Viola gracilis, which we grow 

 in a painstaking way in our rock-gardens, here 

 flourishes in the shrubbery border with the 

 freedom of a V. cornuta. 



A striking feature of Glasnevin is the double 

 approach to the rock-garden — by the gloomy 

 avenue of ancient yews, beneath whose shade 

 Addison took his daily walk, and between the 

 brilliant borders of herbaceous plants whose rich 

 colouring and varied shapes made a grand effect. 

 The rich blue shades, so necessary for a back- 

 ground, were well given by the Anchusas " Drop- 

 more and Opal," Delphinium " Persimmon," 

 Lindelofia spectabilis, Salvia pratensis atro- 

 violacea, and the herbaceous Veronicas ; others 

 threw up the brilliant shades of rose and pink, 



f <r &fc-« 



J* *♦'!• 



Sbnbcio Hectobi 

 6 feet high, at Mount Usher, Co. Wicklow. 



of which, perhaps, the most noticeable was the 

 Oriental poppy, " Victoria Louise," with its fine 

 erect blossoms. Amongst the foliage plants I 

 noticed a good variegated Comfrey (Symphytum), 

 which was very effective. 



From these we passed on to the rock-garden, 

 which is well designed to show an immense 

 collection of mountain plants. The high Alpines 

 and other difficult subjects are given " moraine " 

 treatment, and peat, of course, is supplied to the 

 Ericas, Gaultherias, Andromedas, terrestial 

 Orchids, &c. A magnificent clump of Orchis 

 latifolia, about 3 feet high, and visible from a 

 great distance, was, perhaps, the best thing out 

 at this time Amongst uncommon and attractive 

 plants I noticed specially Celmisia spectabilis, 

 Helichrysum bellidioides and Veronica girdwoo- 

 diana (New Zealand), Kirengeshoma palmata 

 (Japan), Veronica coriacea (Western China), 



Veronica tele- 

 phifolia (Cau- 

 casus), Mimu- 

 lus L e w i s i i , 

 and Geranium 

 Fremonti (N. 

 America) ; a 

 pretty globe 

 flower, Trol- 

 lius pumilus; 

 a charming 

 variety of 

 Spiraea Arun- 

 cus, with cut 

 leaves, named 

 Kneiffii ; and 

 several good 

 Dianthus, the 

 Glasnevin 

 form of D . 

 atro-rubens; a 

 good hybrid 

 Alpinus + Su- 

 perbus, and 

 endless other 

 treasures. In- 

 deed all the 

 best rock-gar- 

 den favourites 

 are rep re- 

 sented. 

 By the water- 

 side, Primulas 

 rosea, japon- 

 ica, sikkimensis, pulverulenta, Bulleyana, Beesi- 

 ana, Poissoni, &c, were well cultivated, and ap- 

 peared quite at home, though most of them, of 

 course, had finished their flowering season. 



Glasnevin is a limestone garden, so the silver 

 Saxifrages flourish, and there is a very complete 

 collection. A variety of lingulata named 

 " Alberti " seemed a speciality and a free good 

 doer. Sax. Cotyledon " Icelandica " and Sax. 

 Macnabiana appeared to me to vary a little in 

 form from those usually bearing these names. 



In the botanical part of the gardens are collec- 

 tions of Iris, Paeonies, and Hellebores of the 

 greatest interest. 



Mount Usher was approached with the slight 

 prejudice one always feels towards a much 

 praised object. But in a few minutes the charm 

 of the garden possessed one and the spirit of 

 criticism was succeeded by profound and whole- 

 hearted admiration. Nature, art and science 

 here combine to make the perfect garden ! In 





