IRISH GARDENING 



181 



4 feet if some old wood is cut out, at the base, 

 each year. 



Pharisaer. — White shaded salmon ; very erect : 

 flowers freely in all weather ; the best of this 

 shade of colour : very good bronze foliage ; 

 stands well in water. 



Mrs. Amy Hammond. — A blend of ivory white 

 and amber ; a new variety, and one of the best ; 

 flowers very full and pointed, but as the petals are 

 " crinkly " they do not stand much rain. 



Mdlle. Clarice Jouranville. — Pale silvery pink ; 

 very similar to " Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt," but 

 more free both in flower and growth. I think 

 it one of the best garden Roses I grow. 



Yellow. 



Harry Kirk (Tea). — Sulphur yellow, but 

 bleaches rapidly in sun ; vigorous, but does not 

 break from the base, and soon becomes a leggy 

 plant ; a good decorative variety. 



Mme. Ravary. — Clear yellow with orange flush 

 in the centre ; bleaches soon, and in autumn is 

 practically white : dwarf and stocky, so I find 

 the stems too short for any effective decoration. 



Lady Hillingdon (Tea). — Bright orange yellow : 

 a colour which stands well in sun, but may turn 

 to a fawn shade ; a good grower with beautiful 

 bronze foliage ; good in autumn ; cannot, be 

 surpassed for any kind of decoration. 



Rayon d'Or (Austrian Hybrid). — A marvellous 

 canary gold colour, which does not fade till the 

 bloom is quite opened out ; good glossy foliage, 

 but awkward spines ; with me does not exceed 

 3 feet, but may grow much taller. 



Joseph Hill. — Yellow shaded carmine and 

 orange ; a good variety, but hao a tendency to 

 make a lopsided bush, throwing one very strong 

 growth in autumn, a fault which I cannot check 

 by any pruning. 



Art Shades. 



Lady Pirric. — A blend of copper salmon, open- 

 ing up to all shades of soft pink. From every 

 point of view I consider it the best garden and 

 decorative Rose ; lasts an extraordinary time in 

 fresh condition. On November 4th, after some 

 sharp frost, I cut a bunch fit for any show bench. 



Mme Melanie Soupert. — Pale sunset yellow, 

 shaded with pale carmine ; a most beautiful Rose 

 with free growth, but. like " Joseph Hill," has a 

 tendency to throw up one very strong cane in 

 autumn. 



Irish Elegance. — May be called a combination 

 of apricot and orange, with a crimson tinge when 

 in bud ; unsurpassed as a decorative variety. 

 People in England find it does not flower very 

 well, but when moderately pruned, I could not 

 imagine anything more free in flowering in its 

 own climate. 



Mrs. Alfred Tate. — Copper red shaded fawn 

 and ochre ; perfect shape ; blooms and growth 

 erect ; a beautiful " dinner table " Rose. 



would like to return to the so-called " im- 

 munity " from mildew, &c. In my opinion 

 no Rose is immune — all varieties are, more or 

 less, siisceptible to infection. Do not wait to 

 find out a bad case of disease. The spores of 

 disease lie dormant in the winter, both on the 

 plants and or, the surface of the soil, only to 

 germinate and spread in the early summer. 

 Spray your plants early in the spring, even 

 before the fol age buds have opened ; spray 

 regularly during the season. 



Avoid " Crimson Rambler," the Rugosa Roses, 

 and Sweet Briar hybrids ; if you must grow them 

 keep a careful eye on them, as they are all 

 plague-carriers by nature, especially of '* red 

 rust " and " black spot." 



If the Editor will allow some rather icono- 

 clastic advice — do not spoil the appearance of 

 your garden with the old-fashioned mulch of 

 heavy strawy manure in the winter. At that 

 season the properties of the mulch only excite 

 the roots at a time when they should be at rest ; 

 it keeps the surface soil wet in mild weather, 

 and in any hard frost the stuff is frozen on to the 

 growths. I gave it up as a practice some years 

 ago, and, as a test, I can say that out of over 

 1,200 Roses I have only lost nine in four years. 

 Again, do not be afraid to carpet or, at least, 

 to edge up the beds with low-growing, surface 

 rooting plants such as Viola, or small annuals 

 such as Leptosiphon, Nycterinia or Fenzlia 

 dianthiflora. Such intruders do not rob much, 

 if any, from a properly liberally treated Rose 

 bed — all such planting to be done, of course, 

 after the Roses have had their necessary spring 

 stimulants. 



Do not be satisfied by breaking or snipping 

 off the heads of blooms which have withered or 

 fallen. If you want to build up a compact and 

 dwarf bush, cut back all these heads to a plump 

 eye, in just the same way as you would cut a 

 bloom, with a good stem, for decorative pur- 

 poses. 



Last of all, do not mix up your varieties in 

 the same bed. If you do this your results will 

 be a clash of colour and an uneven Rose bed. 



The secret of all garden success is massing 

 rather than variety. 



^* ft^* Q£?* 



The Polyaxtha Roses. 



Orleans Rose. — Bright Geranium red, with a 

 small peach centre. 



Katharine Zeimet. — Pure white. 



Marie Pavie. — White shaded pale rose. 



All of very dwarf habit, and when they are 

 better known I think we shall find fewer bedding 

 Geraniums in our gardens. 



I fear my notes are already too long, but I 



Erlangea tomentosa. 



This is a fine plant for the greenhouse which has 

 only become known during the last few years. 

 The mauve flowers are small, but numerous, and 

 closely arranged in a head or corymb. It will 

 last two or three months in full beauty, and the 

 foliage is sweetly scented. It is propagated by 

 cuttings and only requires the same treatment as 

 other greenhouse subjects. T. W. B. 



