IRISH GARDENING. 



19 



Rhododendron dauricum. 



This is the earliest Rhododendron to flower, and 

 is a charming sight in the middle of January 

 when smothered in its beautiful rosy-purple 

 flowers. It is a deciduous species, flowering 

 long before the leaves ai)pear, and is worth a 

 sheltered position. Flowering so early, it is 

 liable, of course, to be caught by frost, and may 

 be ruined in a single night. For that reason it 

 is advisable to 

 plant in a position 

 where the morn- 

 ing sun will not 

 reach it too soon. 

 and where it will 

 be sheltered by 

 Conifers or other 

 evergreens. Rho- 

 dodendron mou- 

 pinense is opening 

 its flowers at the 

 same time ; and 

 if this new Chinese 

 species, which is 

 dwarf, bearing 

 white flowers, 

 should prove con- 

 stant in opening 

 thus early, one 

 can imagine a 

 very pretty com- 

 bination by plant- 

 ing the two to- 

 gether. R. dauri- 

 cum is, as stated 

 above, deciduous, 

 while R. moupi- 

 nense is evergreen . 

 It is a good 

 plan to use some 

 of the hardy 



Heaths under the early flowering deciduous 

 Rhododendrons, especially the Mediterranean 

 Heath and its varieties. They give a certain 

 amount of shelter to the Rhododendrons when 

 young, as well as shading the roots from hot 

 sun in summer, and being evergreen they act 

 as a foil to the flowers of the Rhododendrons. 



B. 



Linum grandiflorum rubrum. 



This i)retty red-flowered Flax is one of the 

 showiest annuals we have. In habit it iiiiich 

 resembles the common blue Flax, and grows some 

 9 inches high, bearing large deep red flowers from 

 .Tuly onwards. Seeds should be sown in the open, 

 in a sunny position, in April, and thinned out to 

 about -1 inches apart. Water should be applied 

 in dry weather. 



Sax. Cotyledon montavoniensis 



The Alpine Garden, 



The first bloom noted in the Alpine garden 

 was Galanthus Elwesii (December 10th), and 

 since then Saxifraga burseriana, Sax. b. major. 

 Sax. b. gloria. Sax. b. speciosa, and Sax. b. 

 tridentina have come into bloom. 



These Saxifrages are by no means hard to 

 propagate, and if a little trouble is taken a 

 nice stock can be got up in quite a short time. 



After flowering, 

 single rosettes can 

 be taken off the 

 growing plant and 

 put singly into 

 1-inch pots which 

 have been filled 

 with sand, to 

 which a little leaf- 

 mould, lime rub- 

 ble, and a very 

 small quantity of 

 loam has been 

 added. These 

 pots should then 

 be plunged in 

 sand and covered 

 with a bell glass, 

 Mud in July the 

 small pots can be 

 plunged in 3-inch 

 pots, wintered in 

 ;i frame, and in 

 1 he spring they 

 wiU be ready for 

 lepotting from 

 I -inch to 2| or 

 .{-inch pots. 



Of course there 



are countless 



other ways of 



propagating these 



Saxifrages ; many of them may be better ways, 



but from personal experience I can recommend 



this method as satisfactory. 



It is very difficult to get outside work done 

 at present, as the ground has been reduced to 

 such a sticky state by the incessant rain ; but 

 weeding and loosening the soil with a hand fork 

 can be done ; and the Primrose ground in the 

 wood should be well forked through, Prim- 

 roses and Polyanthus being planted or thinned 

 out wherever necessary. 



The most beautiful effect can be got from plant- 

 ing large stretches of Polyanthus under the j)ine 

 trees of an Alpine garden ; the garden has to be very 

 large, and the pine trees well removed from the 

 actual rockwork, however, to make this jiossible. 



./. II. Sciij,' 



