6o 



IRISH GARDENING. 



Viitiirliiman as^Hriiiuui, a trailer with yt'llow 

 Mowers; Marrubiuiii velutiiium, a low grower, 

 chieflv valuable for grey leaves, which have a 

 yellowish hue; Cerustium Biebersteinii with 

 practically white leaves and white flowers; Con- 

 volvulus cantabricus, with narrow grey leaves and 

 I'ouiparativelv large pink flowers late in autumn. 

 Then we have a host of Kock Roses, some green 

 and others trrey-leaved, and with pink, red, while, 

 vellow and ^orange coloured flowers; and practic- 

 ally all the Thymes, a host in themselves, will 

 flourish on a sunny bank and make a fine show 

 with their green, grey and golden leaves, and pink, 

 red and white flowers. Many of the Saxifragas 

 delight in sun and gritty soil. Take Saxifraga 

 xVizoon as an example; in all its multitudinous 

 forms the leaves alone are attractive, but in some 

 the flowers are poor. Many collected forms, how- 

 ever, have handsome flowers, and a few have 

 originated in gardens. Some of the best are Sax> 

 Aizoon Rex, with tall reddish stems and solid 

 white flowers; Sax. Aiz. atropurpurea, with heads 

 of dark red flowers, and the yellow-flowered Sax. 

 Aiz. lutea. The variety balcana has white flowers 

 lieavily spotted with pink. Other so-called en- 

 crusted species are Sax. cochlearis, with beauti- 

 ful arching .sprays of white flowers; Sax. Engleri. 

 with red stems and white flowers; Sax. Kolen- 

 atiana, white; Sax. lingulata, with long, narrow, 

 silvery leaves, and sprays of white flowers spotted 

 with rose; its variety lantoscana is very handsome; 

 and another form called superba has particularly 

 large and handsome panicles of white flowers. 



In mentioning the Helianthemums, or Rock 

 Roses, I should have said that the numerous 

 named garden varieties, though perhaps the most 

 showy from a purely decorative point of view, are 

 by no means the choicest or most interesting. The 

 dwarf, low-growing wild species have a charm 

 wliich the others lack, despite their gaudy colours. 

 The little grey-leaved, yellow-flowered H. lunu- 

 latum is a gem on a sunny bank, as also are H. 

 alpestre, with hairy leaves and yellow flowers, and 

 H. canum, also yellow, with silky hairs on the 

 leaves. 



So much for a sunny bank. We could easily 

 extend the list, but will turn now to plants for 

 the shady side. Generally on this side there will 

 be more moisture, and some plants retain the 

 colour of their flowers better in shade. The mossy 

 Saxifragas at once occur to us as suitable. Among 

 them is a host of named varieties, many of them 

 of great beauty when in flower, but we must be 

 careful not to overdo the planting of red 

 " mo.ssies," as we call them. A few of them are 

 decidedly coarse and have denarted so much from 

 the wild types that it is difficult to say from what 

 they have sprung. One of the latest, "and I think 

 the best, is Sax. sanguinea superba, which has re- 

 tamed the compact habit of a wild plant together 

 with the short-stemmed flowers of an alpine. The 

 colour is deep crimson, and it does no"t fade for 

 a considerable time. Some of the earlier hvbrids 

 of a few years ago, such as Clibrani Bathoniensis. 

 hybrida grandiflora and so on, are very similar 

 to each other, and all are showy when just open, 

 but the colour soon fades, even in shade. Coupled 

 Avith this tlie main flower stems are long "and 

 easily laid down by wind or rain. These coarser 

 varieties should be planted only sparingly in the 

 rock garden but they make fine' groups in the her- 

 baceous borders, and are useful in spring bedding 

 arrangements, where they can be employed suc- 

 (■esstully in conjunction with bulbs and many 



other plants. Aubrietias, too, though not averse 

 to sun, providing they have sufficient moisture, 

 grow well on the shady side and keep their colour 

 For weeks. Varieties such as Peter Barr, Dr. 

 Mules, Bridesmaid, Moerheimii and Hendersonii 

 are all most effective, giving a fine range ol 

 colours, and are apparently indifferent as to 

 aspect. A number of the Anemones are useful 

 m shady situations, notably Anemone Hepatica 

 and its varieties. These enjoy a stiff moist soil 

 and should be disturbed as little as jjossible. Then 

 the Wood Anemone gives a fine range of forms 

 suitable for sliady places where the soil is cool cind 

 moist yet free enough for the rhizomes to ramify. 

 Various shades can be found growing wild, and 

 often in quite exposed places in Co, Wicklow, for 

 instance, but generally the roots are cool and 

 shaded by the grass or other herbage among which 

 they are found. Some of the best cultivated forms 

 are A. nemorosa Allenii, Robinsoiiiana, Blue Bon- 

 net ancl a red variety called Trehane. The yellow- 

 flowered A. raiiunculoides and the white A. sylves- 

 tris are also useful. Quite a number of European 

 Primulas rejoice in well drained, loamy soil, not 

 fully exposed to the sun, notably Primula pubes- 

 cens and its white variety, P. hirsuta, P. specta- 

 bilis and P. viscosa, mostly with rose or red 

 fiowers. Some of the hardy C'yclamens are beauti- 

 ful in sj^ring and autumn and do well in the shade 

 of dwarf shrul)s, and on the shady side of stones 

 or rocks. Pulmonaria rubra, Omphalodes verna, 

 Sax. Geum and Sax. umbrosa are also shade 

 bearers, as also are Tiarella cordifolia and Viola 

 cornuta. 



In connection with shade loving plants we can- 

 not omit the Ramondias and Haberleas. They 

 will flourish in situations facing due north, but 

 though making fine rosettes in such situations are 

 often found to flower more freely when given 

 a little more sun. In practice we find it beneficial 

 to mix a little peat with the soil when planting 

 Haberleas and Ramondias, and to plant between 

 stones so as to keep the leaves away from contact 

 with the damp soil. Ramondias grow freely and 

 flower well wedged in between stones by the side 

 of the paths through the rock garden, and also 

 in the chinks of stone steps. In the Balkans 

 where Ha))erlea rhodojiensis grows, great masses 

 are found spreading out over bare rocks fully 

 exposed to the sun; the plants become quite 

 shrivelled up in summer, but with the advent 

 of torrential autumn rains they again fill out 

 and flower freely in early summer. In cultiva- 

 tion, however, we find almost due north the 

 best aspect, and at Glasnevin we have a large 

 number, collected in the Balkans by the late Mr, 

 C. F. Ball, and we have annually what I believe 

 to be the finest display of Haberleas to I e seen 

 in cultivation anywhere. Collected plants vary a 

 good deal in size of flower, the best of them having 

 the petals broad and spreading. The finest of all 

 however, is H. Ferdinandi Coburgi, which has 

 l)road handsome leaves and fine flowers. Jn con- 

 sidering plants for shady positions we hav^e to bf av 

 in mind that it is moisture that induces many 

 plants to seek shade, and that given an adequate 

 supply of water many of them 'vui j.row quite 

 well in sun. Hence, we find in on3 garden a 

 plant may flourish in sun and in r.notho'- require 

 shade, the soil and atmosphere generally being 

 the controlling factors. 



Among the immense number of plants now 

 grown on our rockeries there are many that seem 

 happy almost anywhere given anything like fail 

 conditions of soil. 



