1 66 



IRISH GARDENING 



liaiilN in most si( uat ions, haidiri' in tact than its 

 parents, and siiici' its advent it is (juilc cuninion 

 to SOI' ('riniinis <;ro\vn as opi-n aii- plants. It is a 

 very beaut ilnl and vlKftrons plant, and vciy t'r.c 

 flowerinji. a notable addition to our garden flora. 

 There are two varietie.s. one deep ])ink in eoloin-. 

 the otlier pure white. Since tl\at date several 

 additional species connn^ from such dilTerent. 

 countries as India, Africa, and Australia, have 

 bi-en tried in the open, and when siutably jilaced 

 have lived for years, but tlu'ir life can scarcely be 

 called a happy one. and they cannot be relied on 

 to (lower reiiularly. In comjiarat ivt'ly recent 

 veai's Messrs. Damman. of Na])les. offered i)hvnts 

 of (". i)ratense and ('. Vemense. stated to be new 

 introductions, both of which were jjurciiasi'd foi' 

 t.he (ilasnevin collections. The former ni'vcr s^ave 

 good results, the latter has proved to be tlie linest 

 of all hardy Crinums. a splendid plant in every 

 respect. Heference to the illusti'ation (p. 1(59) will 

 give some idea of the vigour and free flowering 

 character of this species, if I may call it species, as 

 the Kew hand list relegates it to the minor 

 position of a varietal fornx of C. latifolium. to 

 which I may say it has no re&emblance, and is in 

 fact in every respect superior. It has been for 

 about ten yeai'S in its present position, and con- 

 tinues to i7icrease and llouiish. The leaves are 

 strong and upright, ilark sinning green, not easily 

 damaged. The scapes, are numerous, very sturdy 

 and erect, and able to withstand severe storms, 

 each carrying from 30 to .10 flowers, wliich are of 

 good substance, pure white when fully open, and 

 there are frequently, when the weather is fine, 

 about a dozen flowers open at the sanie time. 



A point to note in the cultivation of Crinums in 

 the open is that they shovdd be planted in well 

 drained and deep soil, so that when planting it 

 may be possible to cover the bulb and neck right 

 up to the base of the leaves, which means from 

 18 inches to 2 feet in most cases. A protecting 

 layer of leaf-mould, peat-mould, or fibre may be 

 given in winter. Hard fx'ost will kill all parts 

 above the surface, but the underground portions 

 remain uninjured, and start freely into growth in 

 the spring. A position in front of a wall or 

 biiilding with a sunny exposure seems to suit 

 them best. 



F. W, Moore. 



The Rose Garden^ 



November is considered to be the best month 

 for planting Roses. The soil is still warm enough 

 to encourage the formation of new roots, thus 

 giving the plants a chance of becoming estab- 

 iislied before severe weather sets in. Often, if the 

 weather keeps mild and open, planting may be 

 continued into December, but as a rule January. 

 February, and early March are unsuitable. If 

 for any reason planting cannot be done now, I 

 would rather wait till the weather shows signs of 

 becoming warmer in spring. Possibly it is better 

 to obtain what plants are wanted now, so as to 

 get fii"st choice, and " heel " them in in some 

 vacant corner till they can be planted perman- 

 ently. So much has appeared before in these 

 columns about the preparation of the grouxid for 

 Roses that it is unnecessary to repeat the advice 

 already given. A problem that often puzzles the 

 beginner is which varieties to plant. The number 

 is so bewildering that even after visiting many 



-.•u-.h'ns. i)nhlic .111. I pii\;.tr. .is u.ll .-is nursery 

 gardens, tlie no\ ice is still DU/./icd to make a 

 selection. .Ml Koses do not do e<piallv well in all 

 soils, .•ind .iHhongii a good deal of uniformity in 

 t'le (|n;ilit\ and condition of the soil is brougiit 

 .il.ont li.\ cnlt i\ .ilion. yet some local characlcrisl ic 

 may favour one variety moi-e than another. The 

 ])iivate and amateur Hose growers in Ireland are 

 notoriously shy of contributing their experiences 

 to Irish (i.VRnisNixc. so with a view to assisting 

 beginners in making a selection I asked several 

 of the large trade growei's to recomm(!nd a few 

 of the best varieties for various pur|)oses. Some 

 of these growers are also noted raisers, and grow 

 large numl)ers of varieties raised in other countries 

 than Irelajid. 'i'hey also have a unicjue oi)i)or- 

 t unity of knowing wliicli varieties are most 

 l)opuiar in distiicts far beyond their o»vn. and also 

 ai-e able to comi)ai-e one variety against another 

 i/i a way few amateurs can do. Owing to con- 

 siderations of space I linnted the selection to six 

 in each section. This obviously made the 

 selection difficult, since with such a nudtitude of 

 varieties it is hardly pos.sible to choose six which 

 stand out far ahead of all the others. However, I 

 received most courteous and prompt replies, and 

 append the selections herewith. Again, owing to 

 lack of .space descriptions cannot be given, but 

 tliesi^ are easily obtained from catalogues. The 

 selections given below are not exhaustive, as 

 some of our correspondents point out — there are 

 oth(>r varieties quite equal to them — but our 

 desire is to help the beginner, and we trust these 

 lists may be usefvd. 



Recommended by Hugh Dickson, Ltd., Royal 

 Nurseries, Belfast. — For bedding and cutting : — 

 Lady Pijrie, General MacArthur. Prince Charm- 

 ing, 31ad. .Jules Bouche, Goi'geous, Charles de 

 Lapisse ; and the best six Rambler varieties in our 

 opinion are (older varieties) : — American Pillar. 

 Blush Rambler, Dorothy Perkins, Lady Godiva, 

 Excelsa, Hiawatha ; and the best six newer 

 varieties : — Diabolo, Paul Ploton, Christine 

 Wi'ight, Leontine Oervais, Alex. Gerault, New- 

 port Fairy. 



Recommended by Wm. Watson & Sons, Ltd., 

 Clontai-f Nurseries. Dublin. — For bedding: — 

 Betty, CJeneral MacAi'tliiu'. Hugh Dickson, Lady 

 Ashtovvn. Lady liillingdon, ]\lme. Ravary. For 

 cutting most of the best bedders are equally 

 desirable : — General MacArthur, fragrant and 

 erect. Lady Pirrie ; the buds are lovely for 

 cutting. ^Vlme. Abel Chatenay ; none more 

 desirable to cut. and delightfully sweet. ^Nlnie. 

 Edouard Herriott ; this Rose never ceased all the 

 season, and is wanted by everyone owing to its 

 unique colouring (Daily Mail Rose). Mr;-.. 

 Alfred Tate ; no Rose has more charming buds 

 than this ; the stems and freedom of flowering 

 render it indispensable for decoration. Prince de 

 Bulgarie ; very prolific ; flowers borne upright on 

 straight long stems. As you do not say if Dwarf 

 Polyantha bedders are wanted, we add the best 

 six of these useful types, flowering s:till in the 

 open : — Ellen Poulsen, Gloire d'Ot-leans, Jessie, 

 Orleans Rose, Rodhatte, ^frs. W. H. Cutbush. 

 It is fairly easy to name the best six Ramblers, 

 and we include only Wichuraianas, as they are 

 the easiest for beginners : — Dorothy Perkins, 

 American Pillar (which someone calls " the Rose 

 for any back yard "), Coronation, Excelsa (much 

 the best crimson), Dorothy Dennison, and the 

 new Sander's White, which is the best of the 

 whites. 



