i6 



IRISH GARDENING. 



two species already dealt with — a dense little 

 shrub with many erect branches clothed with 

 obvate leaves. 



The Vellas betray their relationship by pos- 

 sessing, at times at least, a smell of rotten 

 cabbage. Though coming from so far south, 

 thev appear perfectly- hardy, at least in 

 Dublin. 



Notes on Some Half- hardy 

 Plants. 



13y SiK John lioss of BlaDexsbukg. 



Although the past winter was not on the w hole 

 a very severe one, yet there were short periods 

 in ^\•hich the thermometer sank to a lower level 

 than was the case in normal years, and upon 

 one occasion it registered nearly 16 degrees of 

 frost, which was about the lowest reading 1 

 can remember in Eostrevor — at least in recent 

 years. These spells of exceptional weather 

 \^■ere bound to produce an effect upon half 

 hardy plants; but the losses incurred here 

 would have been probably few 'had it not been 

 for the unusually long period of cold that 

 marked the season 1916-17. As a result of 

 that winter many of t'hese plants thate 

 escaped actual destruction were weakened, 

 and though they showed signs of rapid 

 recovery and were doing well during the 

 summer of 1917, yet they 'had not sufficient 

 vitality to resist the keen frost that occasion- 

 ally visited us last winter, and some of them 

 perished in consequence. Nevertheless a large 

 proportion survived, and it is to be hoped that 

 they may eventually prove their hardiness in 

 the milder parts of Ireland. The attempt to 

 try and acclimatize plants of unknown or of 

 doubtful hardiness is not without its fascina- 

 tion, and though it is accompanied by many 

 failures and by very many disappointments, 

 it does no doubt commend itself to those in- 

 terested in horticulture, who would be glad to 

 know whether they have a chance of success 

 with plants out of doors that are usually 

 described as only suitable to a greenhouse. It 

 must, however, be observed that it is not only 

 frost that occasions losses, for there are many 

 other conditions that have to be taken into con- 

 sideration. The healthiness and the size of the 

 specimens that are put out; their subsequent 

 cultivation and the care they receive; the 

 attention paid to their special requirements ; 

 the chance whether the first two or three cold 

 seasons after planting are favourable or the 

 reverse ; the position and aspect selected, the 

 pi'oper shelter from cutting winds, the natur*:- 

 of the soil, &c., are all of much importance, 

 and if failure follows it is not always due to 



climate. While it is tu be remembered that 

 the atmosphere m Ireland is humid, and some 

 plants, though they do not fear a little frost, 

 are very sensitive to damp. The fact that the 

 past two winters were more severe than is 

 ordinarily the case may give us some experience 

 in the matter of acclimatization, and jjerhaps a 

 few notes on some of the half-hardy plants 

 growing here may not prove wholly without 

 some interest. 



The Acacias form an important genus of 

 evergreen trees, most of them from Australia, 

 with flowers usually scented and of various 

 shades of yellow, from pale sulphur to bright 

 gold. Four species have survived. A. armata 

 IS one of the best of them, with small dark- 

 green leaves; it grows slowly, but was quite 

 untouched during the past two winters. A. 

 dealbata has finely divided pale green foliage. 

 A. decurrens resembles it, but does not flower 

 so plentifully. A. meianoxylon, the Black- 

 wood of Victoria, with entire, somewhat 

 leathery, leaves, is a handsome tree, and in, 

 x\pril it scents the air with its sulphur-coloured 

 bloom. The best specimen here, some 30 feet 

 high and 33 inches in girth, seemed to suffer 

 more from the cold than the others- I was 

 disappointed with A. verticillata, which ap- 

 peared to be quite as hardy as the four above- 

 mentioned, and several large bushes of this 

 desirable species were growing for some years 

 as if they were well established ; but they were 

 all of them much da^maged during the winter 

 before last, and though they began to recover 

 in the summer, the subsequent frost killed 

 them outright. A similar fate befell A. bailey- 

 ana, M'ith minutely divided grey foliage. A. 

 calamifolia is the most Horiferous of the lot, 

 blooming from October to May, and after doing 

 here uncommonly well for several years was 

 destroyed by the cold of 1916-17. A. alata, 

 with winged branchlets, and looking somewhat 

 like a large Elk Horn Fern, also failed, as did 

 also A. pulchella, quite one of the best both 

 for foliage and for its bright flowers. These 

 t\^'o species had been out of doors unhurt for 

 some years. Another interesting group of Aus- 

 tralian trees is the Eucalyptus genus, of which 

 there are many — E. coccifera, E. globulus, E. 

 urnigera, &c. — known to be hardy. Some five 

 and twenty or more species were uninjured, 

 including E. amygdalina, E. cinerea, E. Mac- 

 Arthurii, E. Miiellerii, E. obliqua, E. stellu- 

 lata, E. vernicosa, E. acervula, and E- haema- 

 stoma., were very slightly touched. -Tuglan^; 

 boliviensis, a rare Walnut, from South America, 

 and all the Southern Beeches, including Notho- 

 fagus Menziesii and N. procera, have escaped. 



Cytisus proliferus, from the Canary Islands, 

 had grown, sheltered by a wall, to tree-like 



