IRISH GARDENING 



VOLUME XIII 



No. 148 



Editor -J- W. Besant 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE 



ADVANCEMENT OF HORTICULTURE AND 



ARBORICULTURE IN IRELAND 



JUNE 

 1918 



Old Conna Hill 



This, the home of Captaiu Ptiall, is oue of the 

 most interesting places in Co. Dubhn, or, for 

 that matter, in Ireland. Situated on the sunny 

 slopes above the town of Bray it is favoured 

 with a comparatively mild climate, resembling 

 that of other places near the coast and in the 

 adjacent county of Wicklow. Though in places 

 exposed to the east wind this is tempered to 

 some extent by well-grown coniferous trees 

 planted by Captain Riall's father, and which 

 are now fine specimens. Pinus insignis, now 

 properly called P. radiata, thrives well, and two 

 huge specimens, planted between fifty and sixty 

 years ago, are now towering skywards with 

 large trunks and branches, giving the appear- 

 ance of much greater age. Also remarkable 

 are the fine exami)les of Picea morinda, of 

 which there are numerous specimens ; Pinus 

 MontezumiE is represented by two plants not 

 as large as at Fota, but healthy and growing. 

 There is a fine specimen of the Cahfornian 

 Eedwood, Sequoia sempervirens, with its fibry- 

 barked reddish-coloured trunk, beloved of 

 squirrels for building their nests. Among 

 younger Conifers which are thriving well men- 

 tion may be made of the Japanese Picea polita, 

 the Servian spruce Picea omorika, Abies 

 bracteata from the Santa Lucia mountains, 

 Abies concolor, Abies Veitchii, and the beau- 

 tiful Picea pungens glauca. Ehododendrons 

 do remarkably well, as will be seen from the 

 illustration given of Eh. Falconeri, which bore 

 over one hundred and fifty of its handsome 

 . trusses of pale yellow flowers. Near by a fine 

 bush of Rh. Thomson i was a riot of crimson 

 bells, wax-like in substarce, and most striking 

 when viewed against the sun. Ehododendron 



arbui'eum in its several forms thrives well, and 

 many garden hybrids give great masses of 

 colour. Azaleas naturally grow vigorously and 

 were just beginning to open. Embothrium coc- 

 cineum, wdiich is growing into a large bush, was 

 well furnished with buds, and by the middle 

 of May would be a fine sight. The New Zealand 

 Pittosporums are quite at home, and one of the 

 prettiest, P. Mayi, is making fine -growth and 

 developing into a handsome specimen. By 

 the same woodland walk Grevillea rosmarini- 

 folium is gro\A'ing well, and at the time of my 

 visit in early I\Iay was already in flower. 

 Towards the garden proper is an area enclosed 

 by a wall on one side and on the other by a 

 tall dense well-kept yew hedge. In this cosy 

 corner a fine example of Magnolia Watsoni was 

 full of buds, but I was a week too early to 

 see the open flowers; Magnolia Lennei, how- 

 ever, was open, and Magnolia stellata still in 

 good bloom. Turning into the walled garden 

 one is m.et by a fine array of rare and beautiful 

 shrubs. On a wall Cantua dependens is 

 flourishing and was bearing many of its long 

 tubular pale reddish flowers, a most striking 

 plant when seen growing outside. It is often 

 grown on pijlars and walls in greenhouses. On 

 the same wall Dendromecon rigidum was 

 carrying a good crop of its yellow Poppy-like 

 flowers, and the white variety of Clianthus 

 puniceus was smothered in blossom. A border 

 in front of the wall is full of good things, 

 notably grand bushes of Tree Pseonies in fine 

 flower — a grand sight. A large bush of Tricus- 

 pidaria dependens in the pink of health was 

 carrying myriads of flower buds and will be 

 a glorious sight in a week or two. Two grand 



