miSH GARDENING 



^ 



kiloXVil the liioi'aiiie plants to suffer, and never 

 water them. 



If the Cress weed be picked before it seeds 

 one's moraine is usually the cleanest part of 

 the garden, as other weeds do not seem to 

 invade it to such an extent as on open soil. On 

 a wet day in early spring, a slight sprinkling of 

 some artificial manure may be made over the 

 surface of the moraine. The rain will wash it 

 in and the plants will benefit. A supply of 

 broken chips should ah\ays be available and 

 kept on reserve, as after heavy rains some 

 plants will be found to require a slight top- 

 dressing. 



Murray Hornibrook. 



Dwarf Campanula Hybrids. 



Coxsiderixg the number of Campanula 

 species already in cidtivation, the number cf 

 hybrids is not large, and, curiously enough, 

 the greater number of them are natural and 

 not artificial crosses. No one as yet has taken 

 Campanula hybridization up seriously, and the 

 few nurserymen who have introduced neM' 

 garden varieties seem to be concentrating their 

 energies upon raising double-flowered fomis, 

 with which we could well do without, for a 

 Campanula blossom does not gain in attrac- 

 tiveness by being doubled. 



From time to time I have raised a certain 

 number of hybrids myself, but Campanulas 

 flower at a time in the summer when I am 

 rarely able to give them the necessary atten- 

 tion. Nevertheless I have got a few interest- 

 ing results, some of which I have described at 

 the end of these notes. The parentage of most 

 of the natural hybrids being doubtful the sug- 

 gested parentage must be taken as open to 

 correction. 



Cam\>an\i\a cttrpatica is so difiicult to get 

 true from seed, crossing itself interminably 

 with C. turhinata and readily with most 

 other Campanulas, that it is not surprising that 

 it has supplied us with most of the hybrids in 

 general cultivation. The results of its inter- 

 breeding with C. pulla will be found vmder 

 that plant, but in addition it has given us C. 

 Fergusonl (carpatica x pyra'tnidalis) an erect 

 pyramidal plant with bushy foliage and wide 

 open blue bells I'i'obabiy the reverse cross 

 ipiji'innidaJis x curpailcn) gives us C. pro- 

 fusion, a more spreading plant, throwing \ip 

 quantities of nodding, open blue bells. C. 



Hillside Blue " seems intermediate and very 

 near to these. 



C. hcllardi (C. p)usilJa of gardens) does not 



cross very freely. It hat^ produced, at least 

 one natural hybrid, C. justiniana {bellardi 

 rotundifolia), having bare stems surmounted 

 by nodding, deep blue bells. It, or rather, the 

 Dolomite form, C. tyroloisis, is also probably 

 one of the parents of C. tymonsi, a low- 

 growing plant with small, shiny, somewhat 

 heart-shaped leaves, and heads of small, 

 shallow, cup-like flowers. C. bellardi x C. 

 isopliyllus is said to be the parentage of C. 

 Haijlodgciisis; its habit is not unlike that of 

 C. tymonsi, but taller and looser and much 

 bigger flowers. There is a double form of this 

 which is slug beloved and not easy to keep. 



C. pulla has provided at least four, possibly 

 five, notable hybrids, all apparently the result 

 of crossing with C. turhinata or C. carpatica. 

 The best is C. pulloides — indestructibly hardy 

 and very floriferous, with large, hanging, wide 

 open bells of the same wonderful purple as 

 those of C. pulki but twice their size. C. 

 (t. F. Wilsoi is nearer to C. turhinata in 

 flower and to C. Pulla in foliage; it is 

 semi-erect and its flowers are paler and wider 

 open. There is a form of this with yellow 

 foliage, an extremely miffy plant, which Mr. 

 Farrer identifies with C. Balfouriana, but the 

 plant I got from Bees in 1916 as C. Balfouri- 

 ana is much dwarf er and a better doer than 

 the ordinary yellow-foliaged G. F. Wilson 

 (which I cannot keep). It may be the same 

 cross but is possibly from a different seedling ; 

 or again, C. Balfouriana of Bees might be G. 

 pulla X C. pseudo-Raincri. 



A third form in my garden — origin unknown, 

 quite possibly a self-sown natural hybrid — is 

 nearer to C. pulloides than C. G. F. Wdson; 

 the flowers, which are paler than those of C. 

 pulloides, are borne erect on stiff stems. For 

 want of a better name I distinguish this as 

 var. pulloides ere eta. 



The last form is a treasiu'e which came to 

 Glasnevin from Glasgow under the name of 

 C . Meoides. Its foliage is very tiny, hairy and 

 pale green ; its flowers fairly large hanging bells 

 borne on very short, stalks, and when grown in 

 shade they are of a wonderful dark Diue — 

 almost an Oxford blue ; in sun this turns to 

 deep purple. I know nothing of its origin but 

 C. pulla is probably one of its parents. It is 

 very slow to increase and prefers half shade. 



C. Standsfieldi is a charming plant; foliage 

 hairy and shaped like a narrow holly leaf; 

 flower drooping, wide open, and pale lilac. It 

 does best with me in light soil in shade. It is 

 said to be the result of crossing C. Tommas- 

 iniana or ('. Widdstciniana with another Cani- 

 panula. I see that Mr. Farrer suggests C. 

 pulla as that other. Personally, I should pre- 



