54 



IRISH GARDENING 



and was one mass of yellow blooms. Xatii- 

 lally, a hot and dry position in full sun suits 

 it. Its freedom of Ho\\erin<^', v\rn in its free- 

 tlowering race, is astonishing. In jiassing, I 

 will just menti(jn Cmn jui n iihi x Kcivcitsi.s^ n 

 hybrid between C. (irvaiica x C }iiiUit. It 

 forms a little spreading tuft, exactly like the 

 former, and freely bears soft, puiplish lilac 

 tiowers, nuich more beautifid than the smur- 

 v.hat harsh colour of C. <nr<dica itself, and the 

 petals have a i)eculiar hut delightful twist in 

 them. It seems quite happy m similar con- 

 ditions to C. arvatico, in a crevice or moraine. 

 Lastly, two Gentians. The difficult Gen- 

 tians are many, but fortunately for gardeners 

 unable or unwilling, if any there be, to stand the 

 constant drain of growing say G. iiiihricata and 

 hracJiyphyUa , but j)ossessed withal of a desire 

 for Gentian blue, the number of easy s})ecies 

 seems to be increasing. The first is Gentiana 

 sinO'orncita. This forms tufts of narrow- 

 pointed foliage, about 1 inch long, and from 

 these sends out prostrate stems about 2 to 3 

 inches long, from the end of which stand up 

 a large acaulis-like flower of glowing Gentian 

 blue with a soft, white throat. The exterior 

 of the bud is quaintly barred, and spotted with 

 dull, purplish-blue on a pale yellow ground. 

 Like other Gentians, the blooms only open 

 fully on a warm day. It grows readily with 

 me in a slightly raised bed of sandy peat, and 

 is shaded from the mid-day sun by a small 

 Beutzia. Propagation is peculiarly easy, as 

 the flower stems produce little plants at the 

 nodes if pegged down with a small stone. This 

 is-: going to be a good garden plant, if I mis- 

 lake not. The other is G. dahurica, intro- 

 duced some years ago by MM. Kegel and 

 Kesselring. this forms tufts of narrow foliage 

 2 to 3 inches long, from which arise prostrate 

 stems 6 inches long, bearing towards the end 

 three to four flov.-ers, about f inches across, 

 of a deep Gentian blue. It grows well in 

 If. amy or peaty soil, not jiarched. These Gen- 

 tians have that same wonderful intensity of 

 colouring that I mentioned in connection with 

 Mimidus X Bartonianus, and should be grown 

 by all who love the most beautiful of Aljjines. 

 There is also a ^\•hite variety which I have not 

 jet flowered. E. B. Anderson. 



Hardy Annuals. 



In these hard times of fuel shcjrtage and rigid 

 economy, many of our old-fashioned ideas of 

 trie value of rare exotic flowers have had to 

 give way, and, indeed, little hardship has been 

 involved in the sacrifice, for we have many 

 annuals, both hardy and half-hardy, to com- 

 pare favourably with the choicest exotic. 



-My present duty is to write of hardy annuals. 

 'J iu' first considi'i'ation is the pieparation of 

 the soil. Happily, most of these ammals are 

 at honir in any well-prepared soil, and given 

 (.i'dinary t-ultiv at imi, all will llunrish in a well- 

 dug medium. 



Assuming that the selected border or bed 

 has l)een deeply dug in wintei' and given an 

 ordiuaiv dfussing of mamire, all that will now 

 l)e necessary is to fork over on a dry day, firmly 

 jaess the surface by tram])ling, and rake the 

 whole into a nice tilth for sowing the seed in. 



If the grower desires to M'ork for colour 

 schemes, he can devise such, or he may sow 

 in clumps, lines, or irregular patches, or take 

 the alternative eoiu'se of severely geometrical 

 b'edding. Whatever course he takes, subjects 

 worthy of attention are to his hand. 



Some years ago a border of hardy annuals, 

 as they usually grow, w^as often relegated to 

 a side place, sometimes looked on as a neces- 

 sary evil, but now and again useful for cutting. 

 The new hybrids \^'hen well grown are, how- 

 ever, worthy of the most critical florists' gaze. 



All hard\r annuals will flower during summer 

 fr(jm a sowing made in the first or second 

 week of April, and, with attention to thinning, 

 A.C., will produce good plants of great beauty 

 right into the last days of autumn. 



The Sweet Pea looms large in the eye of 

 flower lovers as probably the grandest and 

 most useful annual flower; but it has received, 

 ajid will again receive, special columns for its 

 own sweet self, so I leave it alone. 



Mignonette well deserves a paragra])h. It 

 is, perhaps, the best-known annual grown. 

 Its wants are modest, but it pays, like ;dl 

 modest things, for good treatment. A s])ecial 

 trench, with fresh loam and lime rubble or 

 old mortar, firmly ti'odden, will produi-e great 

 }/lants, and if the giant forms are grown, huge 

 si)ikes of flower Mill result therefrom. Sow 

 thinly, and thin the plants to stand not closer 

 than one foot apart. Varieties of the ]\Iachet 

 t,\ pe are splendid, and I can fully recommend 

 the giant w'hite, red and yellow varieties. The 

 honey-bee draws much of the finest honey from 

 this fragrant flower. 



Godetia, although not fragrant, is a beautiful 

 and useful annual, easily grown, and most 

 effective if massed in its respective colours, of 

 which we have a rare choice, and given plenty 

 cf room to develop, each )ilant will produce a 

 great wealth of size and bloom. The varieties 

 range from white to mauve in colour, and in 

 height frf)m inches to 3 feet. " Piosy [Morn," 

 '• Beauty," Lavtmder Gem, Crimson King, 

 Afterglow, Ladybiid. Duchess of Albany are 

 a few of the sorts I can recommend, and all 

 can be used for room decoration as cut flowers. 



