34 



IRISH GARDENING. 



pels; and lastly, L. iiuuitima, a very beautiful 

 small shrub, with almost woody stem two to 

 three feet high. The leaves are orbicular, grey 

 tomeutose in colour, and the upper ones 

 angular. The tlower-stalks are solitary, and 

 bear an elegant blossom of very pale pink, with 

 a crimson blotch at the base. The carpels are 

 glabrous and wrinkled. It is the earliest to 

 flower, and grows very locally on maritime 

 rocks and stony places in the south of I'rancL', 

 Spain, Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, Tunis, Algeria 

 and ^Morocco. 1 have seen its pale blossoms 

 decorating sea-cliffs beneath a fort near loulon, 

 and on limestone cliffs at about 2,000 feet on 

 Mont Condon, in the same district. 



H. Stuart Tiiompsox. 



Notes on the Propagation of 

 some Alpines. 



The following notes are from my note-book. I 

 claim neither originality nor superiority for the 

 methods described; all I can say for them is 

 that they have given me good results: — 



Seed Raising. — There is much to be said for 

 and against autumn and spring sowing. On 

 the whole, 1 have got the best results hum 

 autumn sowing. One is not so busy then as 

 in spring, and seeds planted as soon as ripe 

 often germinate quickly, and make sturdy 

 growth before winter. If the seed is very small 

 and the plant rare, special precautions must \h\ 

 taken, but for the large majority sowing in 

 finely sifted sandy soil in small i^ots is all that 

 is required. The soil must never be allowed to 

 get too dry, and a pane of glass may be kept on 

 the pot until the seeds germinate. If they do 

 not appear before winter the pots are plunged 

 in sand, either out-of-doors or in frames, 

 according to their variety, and in the spring 

 they are plunged into a mild hot-bed, and soon 

 germinate. I know one is told by the books 

 not to raise Alpines in heat, but when they will 

 not show up in the autumn I always ])lungc 

 them, and so far liave found only onr plant 

 that really disliked such treatment, I'liniula 

 jdlioiiica, which does not seem to germinate in 

 heat. I have not, so far, noted any other 

 failures, and one certainly saves a lot of time 

 by " plunging." 



Very fine, dust-like seeds one must be careful 

 about. It is very difficult not to over-cover 

 them with soil, and still more difficult to water 

 them. I know one can plunge the pot in water 

 and let it soak ; but tliat not only requires time 

 and watching to see that the pot is not ab- 

 solutely sodden, but it tends also to make the 

 soil sink as the water rlrains out. I nvoirl nil 



such difficulties by not planting them in soil at 

 all, but on very fine moss. I often noticed how 

 well plants seedetl themselves on mossy rocks, 

 and searching round, soon found tight, velvety 

 moss growing on old brickwork. 1 always use 

 such now, laying it on top of the soil in pots 

 and then simply sprinkle the seed on it. The 

 fine moss holds the seed and keeps it just right 

 in every way, and one can water overhead with 

 a fine rose without washing all the seed to the 

 pot's side. Very little watering is required, 

 and there is less danger of seedlings dying off 

 suddenly in warm weather. For a busy man, 

 these " moss pots " of mine are a great boon. 

 Seeds of moisture lovers — Print ulas, Ramon- 

 diufi, Habcrleas, Ourisias, rf'c. — grow better in 

 sandy peat, with whicli a little iinely-ridtlled 

 Sphagnum Moss is added. For all small plant 

 puri)oses 1 find a riddle made of a piece of per- 

 forated zinc (such as is used on meat-safes) 

 nailed to the bottom of a square box the best. 

 Tlie riddled soil is fine enough for the smallest 

 seeds. The Sphagnum should be di'ied, and 

 rubbed tlu'ough this riddle, and then mixed 

 with the soil. Actliioiunia--^, Mossy Siixifrayas, 

 Diaiifhiis and Alytssumis seed themselves freely 

 if their pots are plunged in a sandy bed when 

 the seeds are ripe. Ramondias are very slow 

 in coming to flowering size. One lot of seed- 

 lings from a spring sowing, I got a neigliboui', 

 who owns a stove-house, to grow them in it. 

 He kept them there the whole winter, and m<jst 

 of them flowered the following spring. Litho- 

 Npcruni Guiiiuni ti'ansplants very badly, and 

 slu)uld be sown one seed to a small pot, and 

 put out 3'oung without breaking the " ball." 



Cuttings. — Saxifragas grow freely from cut- 

 tings ; the best time to take them is a fortnight 

 after flowering is over. A sandy bed in a cool 

 greenhouse is excellent for striking them; fail- 

 ing that, ])lace round the edge of })ots filled with 

 sandy soil or pure sand, keep moist and \mder 

 a cloche. 



('(Unpciiiiilfi (Mittings, taken in rarly spring as 

 they begin to leaf, with a bit of the under- 

 ground stem, root freely and soon. 



Viola cuttings root best in autnnni, but 

 strike readily in moist, sandy |)oat in lull sun 

 under a cloche in spring. Cam j)a)iiila^ with 

 fleshy tap roots should be tried by root cuttings 

 — slicing tlio root and placmg the slices in sandy 

 soil near the surface. Morinia ]J uiioiitica can 

 be propagated indefinitely by this method; care 

 nnist be taken to plant the root cuttings point 

 ing the right way up. Arfltionotia.'i root freely 

 in pure sand. 



The French method of striking cuttings is 

 extremely quick, but should not be imdertaken 

 imless constant attention can be given. The 

 cuttings are planted in very sandy soil in late 



