IRISH GARDENING. 



Flowers and Plants in 

 Christmas Week. 



The forward condition of vegetation generally 

 has been commented on by many people lately, 

 and there is no doubt that a spell of cold 

 weather would be beneficial. One cannot help 

 admiring the various plants which are coming 

 into flower or are making growth preparatory 

 to flowering, but the fact remains that we know 

 full well they are before their time, and will 

 doubtless suffer. Sisyrinchiimi grandiflorum, 

 the always charming Satin Flower, is already 

 six inches high, and will soon come into flower 

 unless checked by frost; and our climip is in a 

 by no means sunny position, for it gets practi- 

 cally no sun at this time of the year, being 

 planted in a shaded part of the rock garden in 

 heavy, moist soil, such as it delights in. 



Ad'^onises, too, are pushing up fast; in fact, 

 some of them are actually in flower, notably 

 Adonis davurica. These, too, rejoice in stiff, 

 moist soil, and flovu-ish in the bog garden. 



Saxifraga desoulavayi is in flower, and so is 

 Sax. chrysoleuca; both have yellow flowers, 

 the former being the richer in cohjur, though 

 the flowers are small, and not equal to those 

 of some of the later flowering species of the 

 same section. Rhododendron lapponicum is 

 a bright little plant of slow growth, and is doing 

 fairly well here in a rather dry bog at the base 

 of a pine tree. The twiggy branches are 

 sparsely clothed with small scaly leaves, and 

 the flowers, now fully open, are bright purple; 

 some people do not care for the colour, l)ut it 

 is welcome at this time. 



Rhododendron dain-icuni is likewise in tiower, 

 but is a nnich taller shrub with the same sparse; 

 habit of growth ; the flowers, produced singly 

 at the ends of the branches, are of a rosy purple, 

 and make a nice disf)lay at this time of the 

 year. Frost, of course, is fatal to them, and 

 therein lies the danger. These early flowering 

 Rhododendrons look well, rising out of a carpet 

 of Erica mediterranea, which is also flowering 

 at the present time. 



Erica earnea, an old favoui'ite, is showing 

 colour strongly, and l^ackhouse's varieties are 

 opening fast. These vary considerably in 

 shade, and are really great acquisitions. Thi' 

 flowers vary somewhat in size as also (If)es the 

 habit, some being nK)re compact than others. 



Tris histrio and I. histrioides are both flower- 

 ing ; illimitable gems from Palestine and 

 Armenia. 



Leucojum carpaticum Vagneri is in bud, aiiil 

 will be in flower ere these notes appear unless 

 cold weather puts a check on its precocity. 



Sweet violets are blooming in the open, and 

 although not so well developed as frame-grown 

 plants would be, they are nevertheless charm- 

 ing, and afford a nice picking. Two varieties 

 prominent are Kunigin Charlotte and Prima- 

 vera. 



Lonicera Standishii is flowering fi-eely, and 

 so is the Winter Sweet Chimonanthus frag- 

 rans. 



For those who want flowers for the house in 

 December and -lanuary here is a list from out 

 of doors : — 



Christmas Roses, Sweet Violets, Lonicera 

 Standishii, Chimonanthus fragrans. Iris sty- 

 losa, Erica mediterranea, and the Laurustinus; 

 these, combined with the bright fruits of 

 Cotoneasters and Barbei-ries, should satisfy 

 the most exacting. 



J. \V. B., Glasnevin. 



Ornamental Hedges. 



So.MK time ago, when visiting Kew Gardens, 

 the writer was struck by the neat, yet orna- 

 mental, character of a hedge siuTounding the 

 formal water garden near the herbaceous 

 ground. On closer inspection it proved to be 

 formed of Berberis stenophylla, one of the very 

 finest of our s|)ring flowering shrubs. Grown 

 as a free hush, tliis is a most attractive plant, 

 either singly or in a large group. When planted 

 closely in the form of a hedge the free habit 

 is lost to a certain extent, but the result is not 

 so ffjrmal as in the case of the ordinary clipped 

 hedge. Enciuiry elicited the fact that compara- 

 tively little clipping is recjuired to keep a hedge 

 of J^erberis stenophylla in order, an occasional 

 cutting back of long shoots being all that is 

 necessary. 



In view of the very large iniiiiher of shrubs 

 now in cultivation, it is rather remarkable that 

 few of them seem to be in use as hedge plants. 



The old established favourites still hold 

 sway — viz.. Holly, Yew, Box, Privet, Thorn, 

 Hornbeam, and Beech — and for boundary 

 lines, or where they are intendeil as fences, 

 perhaps no better can yet lie found. For 

 gardening purfioses, howevei-, tliei'i' would 

 seem to he room for more \ariety and less for- 

 mality. 



There are many ways in which neat-grow- 

 ing shrubs may be used as hedges to give just 

 a little shelter without being ponderous or out 

 of place. 



There are innumeiahle instances where 

 sj)ecial kinds of plants would benefit from more 

 shelter than a garden naturally affords, and 

 often small enclosures might be formed within 

 which such plants would flourish and pretty 



