IRISH GARDENING. 



107 



Rosa Moyesii. 



tnis is one of the uuuiy l)t'aiitilul and valuablo 

 plants introduced by Wilson into this country- The 

 Howers are large, single, a warm, brick-red colour, 

 two inches to two and a half inches across. These 

 are borne on the long shoots which the plant 

 makes the previous season. The leaflets are small, 

 dark green above and nnich pakn- underneath. 

 K. Moyesii is called after a missionary in Western 

 China, and grows at a high altitude. It is 

 a plant worth liaving in any garden, l)ut it is no 

 use crowding it up. It seems to demand jjlenty of 

 space, and makes a tall l)ush six or eight feet high. 

 The fruits are remarkable — dark red, bottle shaped, 

 with some hairs on them. Seeds sown in-doors 

 will give a good res\ilt, and stock can easily be 

 raised in that way. R. M. "P. 



The Horseshoe Vetch — Hippocrepis 

 comosa- 



Among our native plants there are several quite 

 worthy of cultivation in our gardens and none 

 more so than the subject of our note. Of low 

 creeping habit a single plant will make a spread- 

 ing mat in the course of il .season. The prostrate, 

 wiry stems, clothed with neat pinnate leaves, 

 hang over a stone in a pleasing way, or .spread 

 over a flat poc-ket, as the case may V)e. The flowers 

 produced in mnbels are bright yellow, lasting for a 

 considerable time. They are followed by a crop 

 of pods, which are also rather ornamental. 

 Frecpienting chalky soil, the addition of old 

 mortar rubble when i)lanting would be an ad- 

 vantage where lime is absent. 



The Rest Harrows — Ononis. 



The common name given above is derived from 

 the fact that certain wild species when very pre- 

 valent in cultivated land are so extremely ten- 

 acious in their hold on the soil that the harrow is 

 with difficulty drawn over or through them. It 

 is unlikely that there is much land of this 

 character nowadays, but doubtless farmers of 

 former generations had trouble enough in ridding 

 their fields of these weeds. Nevertheless several 

 species are decidedly attractive and are popular in 

 gardens. Some are distinctly shrubby in growth 

 while others are herbaceous. Of those worth grow- 

 ing in gardens Ononis aragonensis is one of the 

 best. A native of Spain it delights in a light, 

 stony soil and a hot sunny position. The leaves 

 are in threes, the leaflets sow toothed and the 

 flowers are yellow, produced in racemes; a very 

 attractive dwarf shrub flowering in May and early 

 Jime. Ononis fruticosa is a prime favourite with 

 every one, and comes from the South-West of 

 Europe. It also likes well-drained soil and plenty 

 of sun, though it seems quite hardy, except, per- 

 haps, in heavy, wet soil. The leaves in threes are 

 lance-shaped and toothed, while the flowers pro- 

 duced freely in June are a pretty shade of pink. 

 In the rock garden at Glasnevin a pretty effect 

 was noticeable in early June, where a good bush of 

 O. fruticosa was flowering just over a mass of 

 Nepeta Mussini, the pink and lavender effect 

 being generally admired. 



A somewhat uncommon species is O. Natrix 

 with yellow flowers veined with reddish brown. 

 This species is more herbaceous in growth, but 

 reaches a height of two feet or so during summer, 

 from S. W^ Europe^ it too likes sun and light soil. 



O. rotundifolia is another pink-flowered species 

 with, perhaps, the largest flowers of all, and, as 

 the name implies, the leaflets are roundish. In 

 the writer's experience it is not so hardy as the 

 first two mentioned, and should be planted in a 

 sheltered, sunny, well drained position, and no 

 opportmiity should be lost of obtaining seeds. 

 Introduced from South Europe some centuries ago. 

 O. arneusis and O. spinosa are native species 

 with pink flowers, the former a low creeper and 

 the latter more erect. Though pretty in a wild 

 state it is doubtful if it is wise to introduce them 

 to gardens. 



Fuchsia excorticata. 



This is, I should imagine, one of the first, if not 

 the earliest of the hardy Fuchsias to bloom. At 

 the time of making this note (June) it is still 

 flowering freely, and showing a number of buds 

 still, as it did during Marcli l)efore growth on the 

 j)lant became active and when the flowers were 

 shown off to much better advantage. 



The latter would, j^erhaps, be best described as 

 moie curious than beautiful, as luitil they appear 

 to be passing their best they are green in colour 

 changing to a pin-plish red, which gains in in- 

 tensity as the flower fades. 



The base of the sepals l)oth inside and out is 

 finished with a shade of blue which I will not 

 attempt to describe, and the small petals are black 

 or nearly so. The anthers disclose })ollen of a 

 beautiful shade of blue, similar in that respect, I 

 think, to F. yjrocumbens. 



This species does not appear to be very hardy 

 and excepting in sheltered places gets ciit to the 

 ground each winter, more resembling a her- 

 l)aceous plant, but when planted in a sheltered 

 position the blooms are freely i3roduce(l from the 

 previous season's and older growths. 



Irises. 



In the notes in Intermediate Irises in the last issue 

 of Irish Gardening an allusion was made to the 

 I)ossibilities of the " Iris Garden " in the future, 

 when happier times prevail again. In the pre- 

 sent niunber we show the effect of a V)order of 

 Irises in the Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. A very 

 good collection of the best named varieties of the 

 various sections is grown in more than one part 

 of the gardens, and visitors are able to see and 

 note the varieties of their choice at various sea- 

 sons. In the collection illustrated the following 

 new varieties were conspicuous in early June : — 

 Iris King, a beauty with standards of old gold and 

 falls of crimson maroon. Isoline, with lilac pink 

 standards and old rose falls; Edouard Michel, 

 standards and falls wine red; Niebehmgen, 

 standards fawn yellow, falls purple bronze; Ori- 

 flannne flowers large, standards blue, falls purple; 

 Rhein-Nixe, standards white, falls violet pin-ple; 

 a very beautifid variety. Many other older 

 varieties made a beautiful display, and there is 

 no doubt that a garden of Irises would be a most 

 charming feature. 



The Umbrella Tree. 



Magnolia Tripetala is another tree-like species 

 with large leaves, also called M. umbrella, or the 

 " Umbrella Tree." There is a plant coming now 

 into flower in Mr. Barton's garden, at the Bush, 

 Antrim, which deserves notice, as it usually does 

 not open its great, creamy-white bloom until it 

 has attained to a considerable size 



