40 



[RlSll GARDENING 



Lithospcrmum rosviarinifoUurn is a diminu- 

 tive evergreen shrub, seldom more than IB 

 inches to 2 feet high. It appears to be a native 

 of Italy, and begns to bloom in November, con- 

 tinuing to display its beautiful clear blue flowers 

 up to the end of April. 



Eucalyptus cordata is a tree from Tasmania, 

 and is one of the hardier species of the genus. 

 The bloom is not unlike that of a Myrtle, but 

 not so conspicuous, and it opens early in the 

 year. It is evergreen, leaves heart-shaped, and 

 of a bluish tint. 



Hamauhelis mollis is of recent introduction 

 from Ohina. It seems to be absolutely hardy, 

 and produces its yellow flowers in all weathers. 

 The leaves are large, and they die off in the 

 autumn a fine canary colour. 



Cyclcunen coum, from Asia Minor, deserves 

 more attention than seems to be paid to it. It 

 spreads quickly, and forms a dense carpet of 

 green leaves mottled white. Early in January 

 it begins to throw up masses of bright crimson 

 flowers, which last many weeks, and which 

 contrast well with Snowdrops and also with the 

 Lithospcrmum, above mentioned, when the 

 three are close to each other. Last year and 

 this year the bloom was delayed till February ; 

 but this was due to the cold. In normal years 

 it is a blaze of crimson before January is half 

 over. 



The above are hardy in Ireland, at least in 

 the more favoured districts of the island, and 

 Avhere soil is suitable. Of half-hardy plants, 

 mention may be made of Acacia calnmifolia, 

 which begins to open its Mimosa -like yellow 

 flowers late in October, and continues to bloom 

 nearly until the summer. It is very floriferous, 

 and it grew out-of-doors at Eostrevor for several 

 years until last winter, when the prolonged 

 frost killed it. J. R. of U. 



Parsnips. 



This excellent vegetable suffers not at all by 

 being left in the groimd, indeed some say the 

 flavoiu' is never right until the roots have been 

 frosted. If, however, it is desired to dig the 

 groimd they may be carefully lifted and stored 

 between layers of soil to prevent shrivelling. 

 It is strongly rumoured that there will be a great 

 shortage of Parsnip seed in the ensuing spring, 

 and I strongly urge allotment holders to place 

 their orders at once with a seedrman, so that he 

 may know, as near as possible, what quantity 

 of seed he must endeavour to get iii. 



Grower. 



The Gentianellas. 



These plants may be called " The Pride of the 

 Alpines," as they are the best coloured of them 

 all. Some are really the deepest blue or the 

 deepest red of the alpine vegetation (see G. 

 bavarica and G. purpurea), and some are the 

 most elegant of all (see G. asclepiadea). 



This is quite true, says someone ; but how 

 difficult it is to grow these pretty little plants ' 

 I quite agree ; however, in your mild and moist 

 climate of Ireland I have seen the tenderest of all 

 growing very well and looking extren>ely pretty. 

 I have just under my eyes a beautiful photo- 

 graph wliicli was given me by Mrs. Montgomery, 

 of Blessingbourne, Fivemiletown. Ireland, which 

 shows a bed of Gentianella in such luxuriance 

 that I could hardly admit it was not " something 

 made in Germany." I am afraid I will cause a 

 great scandal in saying this, liut it was, I am 

 sorry to say, my first impression. I knew very well 

 that the Huns were making flowers in Erfurt 

 and tricking them so that they seemed at first 

 real flowers. They tricked tlie photos too so 

 well that every botanist, seeing the cards of 

 alpine flowers made in Dresden and published by 

 Ostermayer, sold in millions over the world, and 

 looking as if taken in the highest altitudes, 

 believed at first sight they were natural photos. 



The photo of Mrs. Montgomery's garden of 

 Gentians shows such a mass of big flowers that 

 each one touches another, and the whole seems 

 to be a carpet of blue cups. The frame, of course, 

 is not worthy of the picture, as the bed lies at the 

 foot of a common greenhouse with a cement 

 frame at the back. In Germany they would have 

 put a glacier behind that photo to make believe 

 that it was taken in the Alps. 



I tried once to have these put out, but it would 

 be a pity, for an adorable young girl stood just 

 there to give the scale ; so I have the picture with 

 the frame, and, even so, it gives my heart and 

 mind every kind of conifort and bears my spirit 

 above all the Huns' abominable stories to our 

 great alpine heavens. 



Such prodigality of flowers we never have in 

 the Alps. The abvindance of the blue cups was 

 really extraordinary. I see in the map that the 

 lady's garden is in the nortli of Ireland in a 

 mountainous covintry not far from some lakes, 

 and so very suitable for the culture of alpines. 

 I know G. verna grows wild in the west of Ireland 

 and reaches to the north of Co. Mayo. Mr 

 Praeger gives in his book, " The Flora of Westeru 

 Ireland," a good photo of the native habitat of 

 this little geni in Co. Clare. It is therefore 

 possible that Ireland still more than England 

 has a climate suitable for growing Gentians. 



The acaulis group is certainly the brightest 

 of all with its very large deep blue flowers. The 

 old species, G. acaulis of Linnaeus cannot be now 

 recognised, composed as it is of four well-marked 

 types markedly different from one another. All 

 have, of coui'se, the same general characters — 

 sessile leaves, large dark blue flowers in the shape 

 of an elongated cup, but the type differs according 

 to situation and soil. They are known as G. 

 Clusii, dwarf, compact and c^spitose ; leaves 

 coriaceous, thick, entire, lanceolate acute, dark 

 green with a central vein ; scape ^ inch at most ; 

 flower large, erect, charming violet-blue corolla 

 with five short lobes ; calyx teeth acute, appressed 

 to the corolla, separated from each other by acute 

 angles. It grows on thin rocky pastures of the 



