XIV 



IRISH GARDENING. 



Notes. 



- RAWBERR] 

 Messrs. Laxton's Nurseries at Bedford cover an 

 area of LOO acres, which is devoted to frail trees. 

 Roses, shrubs and strawberries. Their outside 

 exhibit at the Chelsea Show showed excellent 

 trees and well trained peaches, apples, plums, 

 cherries, &c. 



The Bedford Nurseries are the home of many 

 of our best strawberries, and Laxton's inside ex- 

 bibil showed thai they are still bringing oul im- 

 |,i..\ ed forms to add to their reputation. 



There were some very fine plants of King 

 George V. si ra w berry, which is said to be the wry 



Burall's Self-fastening 

 -Address Labels 



A FLORIST writes: — "Repeat 

 our order for these Labels. We 

 can use no other." 







,,.!.■ 



TREE TICKETS. ENVELOPES. WAGE CHECKS 



SEED POCKETS BULB BACS STRAWBERRY COALS 



&C, &c. 



BUR ALL BROS. The ^S t ry U,ttel 



WISBECH CAMBS. 



A (.mud New Forcing Strawberry, 

 •■ K rNG ( ■ eorge V." 



best early strawberry yel raised, not excluding 

 Royal Sovereign, as it forces several days earlier, 

 is a better colour, a better flavour, and throws its 

 trusses out more boldly, and Messrs. Laxton pro- 

 nounce i1 to be the forcing variety of t li • future. 



The Queen is a very highly flavoured straw- 

 berry, which will displace British Queen; also 

 " The Earl " is an improved " Viscountess." 



Laxton's Main Crop and others were also shown. 

 The stand also included fruit ing, peaches, chen ies, 

 standard gooseberries and currants, Logan- 

 berries, the 1 -a \t oiiherry in pots, and other 

 berry-bearing plants, all exhibited with ripe 

 fruit . 



Am ihsa iTAi.KA. Dbopmobe Variety. 



THE type Anehusa italiea is rather a weeds 

 -ulijeet producing Mowers of such small size as 

 to be hardly deserving of a place in the border. 

 The Dropmore variety is. however, a plant of 

 outstanding merit, and should be in every garden. 

 So distinct is it from the type italiea thai it would. 

 readily pass for a distinct species, but the fad 

 that it cannot he depended on to come true from 

 seed tends to prove that it is merely an improved 

 variety of A. italiea —to which many of the 

 seedlings revert. 



The plant is of extremely vigorous growth, and 



with good cultivation forms a regular hush of 

 from 7 to s fee* high and nearh the same through. 

 Tlie (lowers, which are copiously produced on the 

 somewhal leafy branches, are of a rich deep blue, 

 and nearly an inch across. The plant is l>est 

 planted in groups in a sunny position on the 

 border, and. as they are literally covered with 

 flowers, a group when in bloom forms a regulai 

 cloud of blue. As t he Dropmore variety cannol be 

 relied on to come true from seed, propagation is 

 usually effected by rooi cuttings. Portions of 

 the fleshy roots cut into lengths of about 2 inches 

 and inserted vertically in pots of sandy soil in 

 winter grow readily if placed in gentle heat. 



s. i; 



I \t \i;\ ||. |. k \ i;i; LNDIFLOB v 



This choice plant is of comparatively recent 

 introduction. First discovered in Northern China 

 in 1890 by Prince Elenrj of Orleans, it was not 

 until 1898 that it flowered for the first time in 

 Britain. It is a perennial species, and forms a 

 rather large and fleshy rootstock from which the 

 leaves arise. The glabrous leaves, which are 

 about In inches long, are pinnately compound, the 

 leaflets being irregularly dentate When first 

 produced the leaves are almost erect. I nit they 

 afterwards arch over nearly to the ground. 



About the end of May. or early in June, the 

 sturdy flower stem appears in the centre of the 

 tuft of leaves. 'The stem, surmounted with a 



cluster of buds, lengthens to about ti inches. As 

 the flowers unfold each develops a stalk some 

 '.'> imhes Ion"; branch in": from t he top of t he main 

 Mower stem. The Mowers, which are trumpet- 

 shaped, are nearly 1 inches across and 2\ inches 

 deep in the tube. 'I'he limb is divided into four 

 broad lobes of bright rosy carmine, which deepens 

 towards the yellow tube, the throat of which is 

 prettily blotched with white. Each flower lasts 



for about a week, and as strong plants produce 

 from six to sight Mower. stems its flowering season 



e\1 ends tot hree or four Weeks. 



'The plant prefer-, a dry. sunny position, and is 

 leadilv raised from seed which is freely produced. 



S. JL 



Pelargonium Maxime Kovalevsky. 



This Zonal Pelargonium was distributed by M- 

 Lemoine, of Nancy, France, in 1906, and not 



until live years later did it receive an award 



