1 68 



iKisii (;.\Hni:\T\f;. 



Hints for Amateurs. 



I5y i;. M. l'oi.l.(.( K. 



C'LIMBINC I'l.ANTs. Anioiifi tlu'Se ran \>r loiiiid 

 plants suital)lf I'tn- almost cvtM-y asju'ct and 

 iiKiiiv ])iirposcs. I- or covi-rinM; jiaidcii walls, 

 walls of (h\ cllini^^houscs. hare stems of trct's. shi'ds. 

 outhouses, or old t i-ee sUim])s. as well as pergolas 

 auil aiehes. or v\>-ii liyhl fences. A eeilaiii 

 knowlediic of the plants and their reipiirements is 

 neeessarv to yet the hest results, and in llu-se 

 notes will he i,nven a list of such jdants and a short 

 desei'ipt ion. which may helf) inteiulinti planters. 

 The jilau's named heit» are only those which will 

 either climh of themselves, or twine, or which 

 will only require very sli^dit help and sujiport. 

 In anotiier issue, possibly in that of Decemhei'. 

 a further list will be given of shiubs which eithei' 

 on account of their tenderness or their habit of 

 growth are more suitable for wall cultivation than 

 open planting. Neither lists can in any way be 

 considered complete, but both of them may help. 

 In order of merit and popularity will come 

 Wisteria chinensis. This plant, must have sun- 

 shine and it must have >varn:th. It is slow to 

 establish, but where happy and content it wdll 

 live for centuries. It is one of the handsomest of 

 our climbing plants, and was introduced to 

 cultivation exactly 10(» yeai's ago. The long- 

 hanging trusses of lilac flowers are beautiful, and 

 an old wall or building clothed with these is 

 certainly a sight worth looking at. 



The Clematis must surely come next, as it 

 holds a very important position in a garden, not 

 onh^ from its free habits, but from the very 

 many and varied forms. C. Jackmanni is well 

 known, and there are many named and good 

 varieties of that species, but there are also many 

 of the true species of Clematis which are very 

 attractive and well worth growing, ^lost of the 

 Clematises will grow in any aspect except due 

 north. 



Clematis patens, a native of .Tapan, is one of 

 the early flovvering species, with lilac-mauve 

 flowers. It is not so much for the size of the 

 blooms that this species is strongly recommended, 

 but because both it and C. florida, also a native 

 of Japan, are the two earliest to flower, which 

 they do early in the summer. 



The Clematis " Duke of Kdinl)urgh."' a rich 

 purple, and " Stella," pale violet, aie both garden 

 varieties of C. patens. 



C. Jackmanni is well known, and well deserves 

 all its populaiity. The flowers appear in late 

 summer and continue into autumn, and these 

 flowers are produced on the young growth, 

 therefore any pruning should be to cncoiirage 

 this growth ; but if growing freely, sullicicnt u ill be 

 naturally made withoutany assistance of t he knife. 

 C, Jackmanni Snow White. C. J. superba (deep 

 violet), and C. J. Mad. Edouard Andre (a hand- 

 some bright red) are three good varieties. 



C. Flammula, — This is one of the species 

 which can never rank as .showy, but it has a very 

 great attraction in its small white starry flowers, 

 which are very sweetly scented and produced in 

 loose clusters. The foliage is deep green, and 

 growth strong, but never coarse. 



Th? variety rubra marginata has creamy- 

 whit.* flowers edged wath purple, and is also 

 scented. 



C. viticella, the " Purple Virgin's Bower." is 

 another species which we could not do without. 



I'.rh.ips th.' vaiirtN \ill.- de Lvon is better known 

 tiian the tvjx- with its port wine red flow.-rs of 

 medium si/.e. with a lovely velvety surface. The 

 plai't grows fi-eely when let go its os\ n way. 



The variety alba lu\uriaus has ])mc white 

 tlowcrs tipped with green, and (lowers late in the 

 ant umn. It is a lal her st ron^ urow er and I'ecpiires 

 pl..nty nl- n.nm. 



C. ni..iitana meds no r.^eommendat ion. and 

 nothing could lie more beautiful than the masses 

 of ])Ui(' white flowei's of this creeper in spring. 

 It will grow literally anywheie, and climb up 

 and ovei' aTid into anything. It gi'ows so strongly 

 that some pruning must be done, but the flowers 

 ai'e borne just as much on the old as the new wood. 



Tlu' variety montana rubcns deserves more 

 general i)lanting. It is not nearly as rami)ant a 

 grower as the species, but. it is likely to become 

 Just as popidar. The flowers are a i)ale pink, 

 iuul in many of the forms the foliage has a 

 I'eddish tinge. This form comes freely from seed, 

 but often these seedlings vary greatly in colour, 

 tlierefore where ])ossible planters should try to 

 see their plant in flower before purchasing. 



Another variety recently introduced from 

 China by Mr. E. H. Wilson, and known as C. 

 montana Wilsoni, is a very beautiful form, 

 flowering in September and October, with large 

 waxy-white flowers. This plant is comparatively 

 new to cultivation, and gardeners will watch 

 with interest its appearance in the catalogues. 



C. calycina. also knc^AU as C, balearica, and 

 C. cirrhosa, will appear very much the same to 

 the ordinary gardener, a id there certainly is not 

 much diffei'ence. Both species are evergreen, and 

 both have creamy-white hanging flow^ers. In 

 calycina they are spotted on the inside. The 

 flowers are produced in the winter, and both 

 plants when once established will form a dense 

 dark green mass. 



C. calycina is a native of the Balearic Isles, but 

 C. cirrhosa appears to be more widely distributed 

 over the South of Europe. 



C, paniculata. another introduction from 

 .Japan, of strong growth, with thick clusters of 

 small star-like white flowers, strongly scented of 

 ilav\th()rji. The plant is evergi'een, with glossy 

 daik green foliage. It is hoped to reproduce a 

 ])lu)tograph of this species in ttie next issue, 



C. grata,* — Here we have a native of the 

 Himalayas, also with white flowers, but in much 

 more scattered stiff clusters. Like the foregoing 

 the flowers are scented. The plant is a strong 

 free grower, and the foliage is much larger than 

 in any of those already mentioned. It should be 

 planted where it can have plenty of space. 



Hemerocallis citrina Barronii. 



TiiK ordinary- II. citiina has flowered remarkably 

 well this year, and is a very handsome plant when 

 doing well ; the variety noted above, however, 

 seems to have larger flowers produced quite as 

 freely, and is immediately noticeable at some 

 distance away. The fault of mo.st of the Day 

 Lilies is that they appear to produce a mass of 

 foliage ovxt of proportion to the number of flowers, 

 but in the case of H. citrina Barronii the flowers 

 at once attract attention, but whether this will 

 continue to be the case in future years I am as 

 vet unable to sav. Dublin. 



* The plant in cultivation is really a hybrid 

 C, Jouiniaua (see note in October issue, p. 145). 



