IRISH GARDENING 



101 



Notes. 



Double Rockets 



Hesperis Matronalis FL. PL. 



For many 3-ears the Double Rockets have been 

 known, and loved in some gardens, yet h\ far 

 too many they are quite unknown. Perhaps, as 

 every soil is not suitable for their growth an,d 

 the requirements of the plants not alway: 



understood, poepL 

 them difficult. A 

 stiff cool soil is 

 t li e best, pro- 

 ducing vigorous 

 plants with flower 

 s t e m s two to 

 three feet high. 

 and if the natural 

 soil of a garden 

 is light and dry, 

 means must be 

 adopted to re- 

 m e d y t h i s if 

 Rockets are to 

 succeed. The 

 application of 

 plenty of thor- 

 oughly rotted 

 manure and a 

 mulch of some 

 moisture - retain- 

 ing material will 

 help greatly, and 

 result in the 

 produc t ion of 

 quite good speci- 

 mens. The 

 double white is 



e are inclined to consider 



l'YRL-8 WIXAICA IX THE BOFAXIC GaRDEXS, GlASXEVIX, 



perhaps most popular, and is a really beautiful 

 plant when well furnished with spikes of its char- 

 mingly scented flowers. Thedouble purple, which 

 is really reddish-purple, is also very striking, and 

 makes a charming group. As the flowers fade and 

 towards late summer many imw shoots are 

 formed at the base, which may be taken off as 

 cuttings. It is best to propagate frequently 

 and divide the clumps at least every two 

 years to maintain them \n health and vigour. 



Gardener. 



Veronica hulkeana. 



Thls beautiful New Zealand shrub has flowered 

 very profusely this year, and is certainly one of 

 the most pleasing sights in the garden when 

 covered with its charming pale lilac flowers. 

 Of rather loose habit, it is inclined to ])ecome 



broken down when in flower unless given some 

 slight support. Perhaps not quite hardy in 

 low-lying positions, it is better in such cases 

 to plant close to a wall or hedge in a sunny 

 position, and protect lightly with a few branches 

 in winter. Propagation is easily effected by 

 means of cuttings taken about four or five inches 

 long and dibbled in in sandy soil under a cap- 

 glass or in a cold frame. It is well always to 

 have a few young plants in hand. Veronica 

 lavaudiana is a plant of very different habit, 

 dwarf with rather prostrate branches and 

 bearing corymbs of pink flowers ; a very beauti- 

 ful plant for the rockery, flourishing 'in more 

 shade than suits 

 y. hulkeana. 



V. Fairfieldii is 

 a supposed hybrid 

 of the above two 

 species, and is in 

 appearance cer- 

 tainly intermedi- 

 ate, being dwarf er 

 than the first 

 named and taller 

 than V. lavau- 

 diana, bearing 

 short spikes of 

 flowers rather 

 similar to those of 

 V. hulkeana. 

 B. 



Sutherlandia 

 frutescens. 



Although not to 

 be recommended 

 as generally 

 hardy, this inter- 

 estuag leguminous 

 shrub from South Africa frequently does 

 very well in mild districts in Ireland, 

 and can often be grown successfully in 

 warm sunny corners in less favourably 

 situated gardens ; it is also quite a good 

 plant for a green house from which frost can 

 be excluded. In general appearance it 

 resembles Clianthus puniceus, the " Lobster's 

 Claws," of New Zealand, but it is of 

 harder growth, forming shorter, stiffer 

 branches, furnished with impari-pinnate 

 leaves, and bearing in early summer 

 racemes of bright red pea-shaped flowers. 

 Often used as a " dot " plant in summer 

 bedding, it is well woi-th trying in a sunnj^ 

 angle of the dwellinghouse or other 

 building The pods are curiously paperj' and 

 inflated, whence it is sometimes called the Cape 

 Bladder Senna. 



