178 



IRISH GARDENING. 



Having planted the sunny nook, one must con- 

 sider wliich plants will flower naturally late in 

 the season, and which can be encouraged to 

 do so. Among the latter the Violas — especially 

 r. iniinbyana and the cross V. munbijana x 

 gracilis — if pinched back slightly about the end 

 of June, will flower profusely until the frost 

 comes, ('(it)ipanula muniJ'.s is equally oblig- 

 ing; the double and single Welsh Poppies and 

 the garden hybrids of Antirihimim (jlutinosimi 

 can also be treated in this manner. This year, 

 in mid-October, in addition to the above, the 

 following plants helped to make my autunm 

 nook a blaze of colour : — 



The dwarf Michaelmas Daisies take jiride of 

 place. Of the njimes of many of them I am 

 not sure, but 1 noted two varieties of Aster 

 Thomsoni. Also .1. diffiisiiH, A. " Esther," 

 A. Fremont i, A. brssarubiciDi, a small-grow- 

 ing A. Aniclliix, an unnamed pigmy white 

 Ast'Cr, and the very rare Aster Vahlii, bearing 

 on ()-inch stems clouds of golden " ragworts." 

 Except the gawky ^4. Unosijris, A. VoJiUi is the 

 only yellow species I know. 



Zoiisclincria califomica is a trailer with 

 scarlet bugles. Other Violas in flower were — 

 T'. " lioivlra Black-," V. rothomagensis^ and 

 I'. 01 gmpica , a tiny mauve " self "; Lippia 

 conescens, a creeping Verbena, with incon- 

 spicuous white flowers; Sidcbg.s Corsica, 

 another carpeter with white, yellow-lipped 

 flowers. Fiiclisia.s micropliyUa ;uid parvijolia 

 are not hardy, and must be lifted when tlie 

 frost cfjmes ; likewise Mcscnibnja)itlicniuiii , 

 names unknown, but one with vivid magenta 

 purple daisies is a wonderful bloomer. Hyperi- 

 cum rcptans, a trailing sheet of green, with 

 large, golden single roses; Scabiosa cattcasica 

 Krigeron rosea ['.'), E. niucronatiis, E. sericeiis, 

 an(l E. RoyJei : Canipdntda gdrganica , " W. FT. 

 Paine " and ('. FenestrcJata : Erica rulgaris. 

 SerJei and Alportii are the best late white an'l 

 purjjJes, and the Connemara Heaths flower on 

 even longer. Oxalis fioribanda rosea and aUxt 

 never cease flowering, and the new (). lobata, 

 witli flowers of dee])est golden yellow, is a 

 gem. 



Pentsteinon Hcoiileri, I'yntla arena lia, and 

 Arenaria laricifolia, Sedums of many kinds; 

 S. Pulchelhnn, bright pink, possibh' the best. 

 riurubago Lorpentce has too much foliage foi- 

 the size and number of its flowers to deserve a 

 choice place; Rosa. 'a si]:I;imcn^is, bright 

 purple; Cotoneaster.s adpressa and Ilutnifnsa 

 car[)eters, with bright berries; Linaiii Aas- 

 triacirm, bright pale blue; Polygnmnv \iu:- 

 ciniifoliinn , light pink; Parochetus commnuis, 

 the " blue shamrock," an uncertain doer with 

 me; lAnaria orig(i)iifoli'i ^ and L. " llenilcrsoni," 

 the latter is the only perennial toad flax of 



upiight growth that does not eat me out of 

 hearth and home. So far, it remains absolutely 

 comjjact, and throws up feathery bunches of 

 mauve-blue flowers on stems about six inches 

 high; if it does not run underground, like most 

 fjinarias, it will be a fine autumn rock plant. 



Low down at the edge of the nook the 

 autun n-flow>.rii g cycl?vmtns are very bright, 

 and poking up through them I see the flower- 

 stems of that most beautiful Saxifrage, iS. 

 Furiunei. Its large, shiny bronze leaves are 

 attractive, and its white flowers, with two long 

 petals like swallow-tails, are very beautiful, 

 but unfortunately they as a rule open only 

 in time to be nii)ped by the frost. 



For mid-autumn this is not a bad show, and 

 certainly, when grouped together, they make 

 the nook wonderfully bright ; and it is certainly 

 ])leasant in the fall of the year to know that 

 there is one spot in one's rock garden where, 

 upon a sunny day, one can still hope to find a 

 patch of colour reminiscent of those glorious 

 patches (" drifts "" I understand is the up-to- 

 date expression) of May and .hme. 



Celmisias. 



TiiKSK interesting plants are mostly natives of 

 New Zealand, and l)elong to the great lamily 

 of Composites. 



They a)e not yet commonly grown in gardens, 

 but as they become better known and their 

 requirements more fully understood, it is likely 

 that they will become pojjular. Their success- 

 ful cultivation is still largely a matter of experi- 

 ment, but to the gardener who enjoys solving 

 problems this will only add zest to the fight. 

 Added to this, the beauty of several of the 

 species makes success worth striving foi'. 



In the reputed genial climate of New Zealand 

 it may be there are factors we cannot 

 imitate, but the accom])anying illustrations of 

 specimens flowering at Mount Usher, County 

 Wicklow, and Glasnevin, in County Dublin, 

 would tend to show that in Ireland, at least, 

 tb<Me is hope of success. 



'i'hei'e are. j)erhaps, a dozen species know n in 

 culti\ atiou, though tlu'V arc seldom all to be 

 found in out; garden. i'\n\i ol them can bi' 

 called fairly satisfactory— viz., ('. coriacea, 

 ('. McKduii, C. spectabilis^ and C. verhasci- 

 I'lilia. The first-named is a handsome plant, 

 with long, stiffish coriaceous leaves, clothed 

 witli silvery hairs above, and furnished with a 

 dense yellowish felt below. The flower-heads, 

 borne on long, stout, hairy scapes, are often 

 2 inches oi- nK)re across, with long, white ray 

 florets; a very fine plant in or out of flower. 



