i8 



IRISH GARDENING. 



BUANCH COXE PiCEA lUCOLOl;, 



the Japanese fiat-leaved spruce (Picea hon- 

 doensis), and of the cones of Veitcli's newlv 

 discovered spruce. Sueli a name, based on 

 material of two species cannot be preserved. 

 The name Abies bicolor, given to it by Maxi- 

 raovvicz, has been changed, as it is a si)ruce 

 and not a silver fir, to Picea bicolor, Mayr, 

 which is tlie correct name. The name Picea 

 Alcockiana of Carriere disappears altogether, 

 and is not the name of any spruce. 



Picea bicolor was first introduced into 

 England by J. G. Veitch in 1861. Seed was 

 subsequently sent to St. Petersburg by 

 Tschonoski in 1865, wliicli was distributed by 

 Regal under the name Picea japonica. More 

 seed sent again to St. Petersburg in 1868 was 

 called Abies acicularis, Alaxim. These names 

 must also disappear as being later in date than 

 Picea bicolor. The young tree with sharp 

 leaves and glabrous branchlets, which was 

 formerly called Picea acicularis must now be 

 called Picea bicolor. 



The tree at Glasnevin, of wliich a photograpli 

 is given, was obtained from Barron & Sons in 

 1886, and is now 25 ft. high, the stem being 2 

 ft in girth at five feet from the ground. Tliere 

 is also a smaller tree at Glasnevin, obtained 

 from Dickson's Nursery, Chester, in 1900, 

 which is 18 ft. high by llj inches in girth. 

 Both. trees are thriving. There is a good tree 

 at Pencarrow in Cornwall, which bore cones 

 in 1900. Another tree, about 20 ft. high at 

 Hollycombe Gardens, Liphook, bore cones in 

 1914. Tliere is also a good specimen at Bicton 

 in Devonshire. There is also a fine tree in the 

 Segrez Arboretum in France, and two large 

 trees, about 40 feet hi:^h in tlif Huu'ieAwll 

 pinetum, Wellesley, Mass., U.S.A. There are 

 also two trees at Kew. 



January Flowering Plants. 



It is remarkable the wealth of tlowers one may 

 find in a well-stocked garden, even in so bleak 

 a month as January. Those who rely on plants 

 raised or propagated annually for a display- 

 miss half the charm of a garden. There is now 

 such a wide and varied selection of plants — 

 tree, shrub, lierbaceous and Aljjine — that no 

 outdoor garden need lack interest and beauty 

 at all times of tlie year, even if tender summer 

 llowering things were not grown at all. During 

 tlie month that is just over the following have 

 been quite attractive and most enjoyable on 

 cold, bleak days. Certainly what sun there was 

 greatly improved them all, but the point is, that 

 in spite of frost and snow, their attractiveness 

 \\'as but tem])orarily dimmed, and the first hint 

 of mildness found them smiling again: — 



Loniccra fniyrantissinia. — From December 

 onwards this charming Honeysuckle continued 

 to open its fragrant flowers. It grows against 

 a wall in a not very sunny aspect, yet annually? 

 produces abundance of flowers on shoots of the 

 ])revious sununer's growth. The plant suffers 

 not at all from the fact that its attractions 

 result in considerable pruning, for the buds open 

 beautifully in water, and were the shoots not 

 cut, so that the flowers might be enjoyed in- 

 doors, they \^-ould require sliortening back in 

 spring when the flowers were over. A native 

 of China, and introduced some seventy odcl 

 years ago by liobert Fortune, one of the pioneers 

 of plant collecting in the Flowery I.iand which 

 has given us so many treasures, and which, if 

 report speaks true, will yet give many more. 



Chi7nonanthus ■■fragmns . the Winter Sweet, 



and one of tlie most delightful plants of the 

 outdoor garden in Jaiuiary. In some districts 

 it will grow as a bush in the open and ])roduce 

 its sweet-scented blossoms, but here a sunny 

 wall suits it best, and gives that warmth the 

 shoots require in summer to ripen them, and 

 induce them to form flower buds. A native of 

 Japan, introduced over 150 years ago, this is 

 an old plant in gardens, yet not so often seen 

 as it would be were its merits more widely 

 known. The variety grandifloi'a has larger 

 flowers, said to be not so strongly scented,' 

 though the writer has not observed much 

 difference. In the type the flowers are com- 

 posed of papery bracts merging into trans- 

 parent yellow sepals and ])etals, the inner petals 

 sliorter and streaked with reddisli purple. Tlie 

 variety has larger flowers witli less c-olour in 

 the centre. This, too, should have the shoots 

 cut back in ]March, when the flowers are over. 



