IRISH GARDENING. 



57 



The Arboretum. 



Up to Iho time of writing these notes — namely, 

 the miihUe of ^Nlarch — the weather has been of the 

 worst ])ossihle description for getting on with 

 work. Diiiuiiii; Avas out of the question until 

 within \\\i- last Irw days, consequently there is 

 consideralilr Ircway to make up in finishing shrub 

 beds. Ixiidi'is and iniisci\- (|uai(crs. However, 

 desjiitr slii>ita,L;v ol' lalxmr. a week's good weather 



will sec st ol' the digging and forking disposed 



of for this season. 



Rhododendron beds, as well as single spechnens, 

 will benefit greatly by a mulch of half -decayed 

 leaves applied now before drying winds and hot 

 sun replace the recent spell of cold, wet weather. 

 Khododendrons should be planted very shallow, 

 and consequently forking about the roots is 

 detrimental. It is better to simply clean the beds 

 of any weeds which may be present and apply the 

 leaves thicc or four 

 inches deep ; these, 

 whih' krcpingthefine 

 rools iiioisi . \-et allow 

 suriicicnt air to per- 

 colate between them 

 to keep the roots 

 healthy. 



Bamboos are gross 

 feeders, and rejoice 

 in rich, moist soil, 

 therefore a dressing 

 of decayed manure 

 should be applied 

 now and pointed in. 

 If it is desired to 

 increase any of the 

 species, pieces of 

 rhizome with several 

 culms attached may 

 be taken off while 

 the manure is being- 

 applied. The de- 

 tached clumps may 

 be grown on in a 

 suitable part of the 

 nursery if they do not 



appear strong enough to plant permanently, but 

 in most cases they may be put in their permanent 

 stations right away. Any new species wanted for 

 the collection should be purchased and planted 

 towards the end of the month, treating as advised 

 above. 



By the time April is well advanced the weather 

 should have improved snriicicnt ly to allow of 

 tender shrubs, which haAc been grown on in pots, 

 being planted out. In a large collection of trees 

 and shrubs there is always a considerable number 

 not altogether hardy as well as many that are 

 being tried perhaps for the first time ;"also some 

 shrubs, hardy enough in themselves, flower 

 either very early or very late, and the flowers 

 frequently suf^'er from adverse weather condi- 

 tions. For these and others the protection of a 

 wall is very desirable. In previous notes 

 Lonicera Standishii, Chimonanthus fragrans and 

 .Jasminum nudiflorum have been mentioned as 

 early flowerers benefiting by being planted against 

 a wall, and among others which flower late and 

 benefit similarly may be mentioned Caryopteris 

 mastacantha and Escallonia montevidensis. 



Ceanothuses are very beautiful shrubs, some- 

 what tender in some localities, though the 

 majority of them are hardy in a good many 



M (.1; \ \ niii.oRf 

 Thk Bush, Ax 



districts in Ireland. It may, however, be advis- 

 able to give them a wall in some cold localities, 

 and in any case they make very beautiful wall 

 shrubs. They are divided into two sections — 

 evergreen and deciduous — and are mostly blue- 

 flowered, though there are one or two white 

 flowered species and hybrids with pink and rose- 

 coloured flowers. Ceanothuses are bad trans- 

 planters, and are best put out from pots. April 

 is a good month to plant, and any one contem- 

 plating adding a few to their collection could not 

 do better than obtain them now ; a sunny wall 

 and well drained soil will suit them admirably, 

 and in a couple of years or so they will make fine 

 plants and flower profusely. Of the evergreen 

 species with blue flowers, Ceanothus rigidus (slow 

 growing), C. thyrsiflorus and var. griseus, C. 

 divaricatus and C. papillosus are beautiful. 

 C. azureus is about the best of the deciduous 

 species, but among the hybrids there are many 

 very beautiful varieties. The following is a 

 selection : — Arnoldi, 

 pale blue ; Gloire de 

 V^ersailles, very fine 

 rich blue ; Indigo, 

 deep blue : Leon 

 Simon, pale blue ; 

 Perle Rose, pale rose ; 

 Ceres, rose coloured; 

 Gloire de Plantieres, 

 dark blue : Pinguet- 

 Guindon, dark car- 

 mine, and many 

 others. 



Solanum jasmin- 

 oides is a lovely shrub 

 for wall culture, and 

 soon covers a large 

 space, flowering pro- 

 fusely and continuing 

 late into autmnn ; the 

 flowers are pure white. 

 Clematis indivisa, a 

 native of New Zea- 

 land, is well worth 

 trying on a sunny 

 wall. It is usually 

 grown as a green- 

 house cUmber, where it is much admired, but good 

 specimens are known outside to the south of 

 Dublin, and it has lately been tried on a sunny 

 wall in the Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin, where 

 it looks like becoming established. The clusters 

 of white flowers are very pretty ; the variety 

 lobata is said to be better than the type. 



Clematis Armandi, a white-flowered evergreen 

 species introduced from China, has not proved 

 quite hardy in Xorth Dublin, and is now being 

 tried on a wall, where it may do better. A spare 

 plant, which was " heeled in " close to a shady 

 wall and left there, flourished much better than 

 any which were more carefully dealt with. 



Every autumn a great many cuttings of rare 

 and tender shrubs are inserted in pots and placed 

 under handlights or are simply dibbled into a cold 

 frame. Most of these are now rooting, having 

 callused during winter. Before the pots get too 

 full of roots the rooted cuttings should be potted 

 off singly into small pots— the tender species to 

 be shifted into a size larger later on, the hardier 

 kinds to be planted out in sheltered nursery 

 quarters. All shrubs, however, which are known 

 to be bad transplanters .should be kept in pots : 

 of such are Ceanothuses, Cistuses and practically all 

 leguminous shrubs, such as Cytisus, Genista, &c. 



M IX Till-: K 

 TRIM (see p, 



