120 



IRISH GARDENING. 



July Plants and Flowers* 



Since writing tlie notes on June flowers a 

 welcome change has come over the garden, due 

 to tlie copious rains which have fallen inter- 

 mittently since the 9th, when a thunderstorm 

 broke the long spell of drought and harsh wind. 

 The cliange was welcome, more particularly as 

 we are aware that food crops are more impor- 

 tant than flowers, and the country was greatly 

 in need of rain. 



Since om- last notes were i)enned in the 

 middle of June there has been no diminution 

 in the floral display, though shrubs, perhaps, 

 have been less in evidence, and herbaceous 

 plants more conspicuous. Among shrubs : — 



Desmodium serriferum, a new species from 

 China, has been rather attractive on a south 

 wall. The leaves, made up of three leaflets, 

 are quite downy, as also are the shoots, while 

 the flowers, produced in racemes at the ends 

 of the slioots and in the axils of the u])per 

 leaves, are rose-purple in colour. 



Veronica Kuby Tinge, an attractive variety 

 of gai'den origin, is useful for the front of a 

 shrubbery, and would make a pretty bed. The 

 leaves are rather like those of V. buxifolia, and 

 the flowers are pretty well described in the 

 varietal name. 



Carmichgelia Kirkii, a New Zealander, is 

 perhaps more curious than beautiful, but this 

 matters not at all to the true lover of plants. 

 It forms cord-like brown shoots, the younger 

 ones bearing small trifoliate leaves ; the pea- 

 shaped flowers are borne in clusters at the 

 nodes and are blotched and lined with purple 

 or reddish purple. 



Philadelphuses have been good ; the best of 

 the hybrids being Virginale with large 

 semi-double flowers borne in great profusion. 

 Bouquet Blanc is another fine variety, very 

 floriferous while among the purple-blotched 

 varieties Oeil de Pourpre is attractive, with 

 larger flowers and a deeper " eye " tlian jun-- 

 [)ureus maeulatus. 



The old and valuable Deutzia crenata 

 flowered finely, and holds its own well among 

 the newer hybrids of D. gracilis, discolor, &c., 

 the long arching shoots laden with white flowers 

 l)eing most effective. Kubus nobilis, a bramble 

 with reddish purple flowers, like single roses, 

 and ample three-lobed leaves, is not to be de- 

 spised in July, though perhaps a trifle robust 

 tor a choice shrubbery ; yet, in large gardens 

 it may well find a place. Genista Barnadesii 

 is a dwarf spiny shrub for the rock garden. A 



slow grower, reniinisei'iit of a strong-growing 

 Erinacea i)ungens, but A\itli yellow flowers. 

 There are few true leaves, the plant consisting 

 mostly of a dense mass of spiny branches, with 

 the comparatively large flowers produced in 

 pairs. 



Maintaining the Food Supply. 



All indications point to the necessity of main- 

 taining food production at the highest possible 

 point, and evei'y provision must be made for 

 filling up ground which becomes vacant during 

 summer and autumn. 



August is an important month in the veget- 

 able garden, and much can be done to provide 

 material for })lanting in September and 

 October. 



Early Potato ground or sections from which 

 early Peas, Beans and Tripoli Onions have 

 been cleared may be planted up with Savoys, 

 Broccoli, &c., but, to give these justice, they 

 should be planted by the middle of July. Any 

 space vacant later, say by the middle of 

 August, can be utilised as a seed bed for 

 Cabbages, Trij^oli Onions, Cauliflower and 

 Lettuces to stand the winter. The soil must 

 be broken down very finely, and, if possible 

 a light application of rotten manure or 

 decayed vegetable matter should be dug in 

 not too deeply; this will retain the moisture, 

 and encourage free growth, and also enable the 

 plants to be lifted later on with some soil 

 adhering to the roots, a great advantage to the 

 young plants when transplanted. Good varie- 

 ties of Cabbage to sow in August are Ellam's 

 Early, Hurst's First and Best, Harbinger and 

 Flower of Spring. Of Tripoli Onions good varie- 

 ties are White Italian, Red Italian and Giant 

 Rocca. Good hardy Lettuces to stand the 

 winter are Stanstead Park and Hardy Ham- 

 mersmith, Cauliflowers suitable for autumn 

 sowing are Early London and Walchez'en. 

 Cabbages, Onions and Lettuces sown in the 

 middle of August — not later than the 15th — 

 will be ready for planting early in October, 

 while any seedlings left over will be available 

 for filling up blanks in spring, or for further 

 planting then. Cauliflowers, it must be said, 

 are not so reliable for wintering in the open. 

 They are not transplanted into lines in the 

 garden in autumn, and the usual plan is to 

 transplant from the seed bed in the open to a 

 cold frame, where, kept fairly dry during the 

 depth of winter, and lightly protected during 

 severe weather, they make good plants for 

 putting out in April, and will be fit to cut to- 

 wards the end of June. 



