IRISH GARDENING. 



139 



RegeliO'Cyclus Irises. 



Although these beautiful Irises have been in exist- 

 ence for nearly twenty years, they are still de- 

 scribed as new, and certainly no word of praise can 

 be said too highly of them. No section is worth 

 more attention, and yet they are still miconnnon. 

 undoubtedly due to the fact that they are con- 

 nected with the Oncocyclus Irises, a class that has 

 been given up in despair, in most gardens, as ini- 

 possible to grow. The Eegelio-cyclus Iris origi- 

 nated by crossing members of the difficult section 

 Oncocyclus with its closely allied, but more easily 

 grown, section Regelia, and this has given us a race 

 of plants that produce flowers of the Oncoelycus 

 type from plants more easily grown. 



The Oncoelycus Iris is obviously closely allied to 

 the Regelia group both in its seed and rhizomes, 

 the chief diff'erence being that the Regelia species 

 produce two or three flowers to each stem, in the 

 place of the solitary flower which is characteristic 

 of the Oncocyclus group, that their beards are 

 linear, and not broad and diffused, as is found in 

 the Oncocyclus, giving it the name of Cushion Iris. 



The hybrids have usually two flowers to a stem, 

 and are similar to the flowers of the Oncocyclus 

 parent, while the beard may approach that of 

 either of the sections. The credit for this race of 

 Irises is due to the late Sir Michael Foster and 

 Messrs. Van Tubergen, of Haarlem, who v/ere the 

 originators, both of whom raised many beautiful 

 forms. The following is only a few forming a good 

 selection, but there are others equally as beautiful. 

 " Jocaste has wh.ite standards tinged with rose, 

 falls silvery white and veined with brown violet." 

 " Eucharis has silver-grey standards with brown 

 veins." " Irene very chaste, of silvery white, with 

 chocolate brown veins." " Charon is of bronzy 

 mahogany colour, beau*;ifully veined old gold and 

 brown." " Medusa, deep violet, veined on a blue 

 ground." " Hera, very rol)ust growing; variety, 

 standards and falls rich ruby red with bronze and 

 blue hues." " Psyche, satiny white, veined purple 

 violet, falls with a black brown blotch." 



In choosing a position for these Irises it should 

 be remembered that they require all the sun our 

 climate can give, in well-drained soil, plentifully 

 supplied with lime or old mortar rubbish, and at 

 no time should the soil be water-logged. Here at 

 the Botanic Gardens, Cambridge, they are grown in 

 a slightly raised bed, in full sun, consisting of a 

 mixture of broken bricks and good loam (in 

 equal proportion) to a depth of eighteen inches, 

 below which is a good depth of drainage of broken 

 bricks. When the plants are growing they are 

 freely supplied with water as required. This is 

 very important. Another essential point in the 

 cultivation of these Irises is that the plants must 

 have a complete rest of two or three months in the 

 late sunnner, either by covering the plants with 

 lights or by lifting them in July, and not re-plant- 

 ing until October. This thoroughly ripens the 

 rhizomes, and also prevents them making prema- 

 ture growth, which is so easily damaged during the 

 winter and detrimental to these beautiful plants. 



F. G. Preston. 



Haricot Beans. 



During the war attention was drawn to the food 

 value of various types of Beans for use in winter. 

 When treated exactly as Dwarf or French Beans, 

 Dutch Brown Haricot and Sutton's White Haricot 

 yield an abundant crop. There is every reason to 

 hope that the cultivation of these nourisliing Beans 

 may become a permanent feature in our kitchen 

 gardens. B. 



^^Guaranteed Gardening/' 



Every bookshop nowadays is full of Garden Guides 

 telling amateurs what they ought to grow and how 

 to grow it, but all of them have one great defect — 

 they cannot guarantee successful results. 



Now, the few plain instructions I give below will 

 enable any man to obtain from his garden with 

 (ihsohite ceiidivt!/ the results that I have already 

 obtained from my own. 



The whole secret of success is to strive only after 

 those things that your garden shows itself deter- 

 mined to produce. In other words, you niugt 

 humour it. There is very little use in trying to 

 force a garden's secret inclinations. 



For instance, my cabbages were a failure last 

 year. Very well, 1 tuimed my attention to cater- 

 pillars. What was the result ? In a fortnight I had 

 the finest collection of caterpillars of all sizes, 

 colours, and degrees of hairiness that had been seen 

 in the neighbourhood for years. You catch the 

 idea ? 



I once had a garden that resolutely refused to 

 grow anything whatever. Finally I discovered its 

 speciality. It was cinders. For years I reduced my 

 coal bill to next to nothing, and was on the point 

 of setting up for myself as a coke merchant when 

 the rich vein petered out. 



Not every garden, of course, is a gold mine like 

 this; but something can be done with the most un- 

 promising. 



Those who have not succeeded with broad beans 

 are advised to go in for Black Fly. All that is 

 necessary is to plant broad tieans. As soon as the 

 tops are tender tlie Black Fly will do the rest. You 

 do not need to take any further trouble over these 

 jolly little insects; in fact, they prefer to be left 

 alone. 



Green Fly culture is another interesting hobby, 

 and almost auv kind of plant will do to raise it on. 

 The Green Fly conies out of a saliva-like mass 

 known scientifically as a " cuckoo's spittle." 



No persuasion is required to induce the cuckoo 

 to place this on the plants; you simply remove all 

 spittoons from the garden. This engaging creature 

 resembles a miniature " Tank," and regards one 

 with a haunting and appealing eye when forced to 

 abandon its unsanitary refuge. 



Slugs and Snails are perhaps the easiest of all 

 to raise, and will flourish in practically any garden. 

 They prefer old walls with plenty of nooks and 

 crannies, but, having a strong sense of duty, will 

 do their best not to disappoint you even if this 

 convenience is absent. 



The best results are obtained by planting lettuce, 

 cauliflower, &c., near their haunts, and the right 

 time to study their habits is after dark, with an 

 electric torch. Once you have seen your quaint 

 pets enjoying their evening meal of lettuce it will 

 probably cure you of the selfish desire to eat any 

 more of it yourself. 



Turnip and Radish Tops. — It is very much easier 

 to raise these than turnip and radish roots. To get 

 a splendid crop of them all you have to do is to 

 plant about 3d. worth of seed to the square yard 

 and be careful not to thin it out. 



I have not yet heard of any use to which these 

 tops can be put, but a study of the Economy Hints 

 in any of the weekly home papers will be certain 

 to give the information. 



Lawn Grass. — This is another crop which is a fre- 

 quent failure with amateurs. The seedsmen natur- 

 ally foster the idea that it is necessary to buy ex- 

 pensive grass seed for this purpose, but the proper 

 course to pursue is to dig and manure carefully 



