7° 



IRISH GARDENING 



I'er to suggest ('. I mhinaid , \)\.\i wliatcver its 

 parentage may be it has given us one of the 

 most charming and indispensable of dwail 

 Campanulas. 



C. pscudu-llaineri is also an unknown 

 quantity. Its foliage is yellower, wider aud 

 moi'e hair\ than that of ('. lliiincri, and its 

 tiower stems are longer. .Mi', l-'arrer suggests 

 that it may even possibly be C. tiirbi)utl(i, but 

 its yellow foliage suggests to me a hybrid, for 

 eui'iously enough, hybrid Campanulas seem all 

 inclined to malve yellow foliage, especially the 

 first growth of the season, which is frequently 

 red-yellow and fades with age to yellow-green. 

 In any case C. pseudo-Hanwri is a i:)lant of 

 such outstanding merit that it is worthy of a 

 separate name. 



As regards my own hybrids, I have a whole 

 series of C. rotundiloHa crosses. Of those that 

 have already iiowered one {rot iLndifolia x car- 

 pat tea) is not far. from C. prufusiun, but makes 

 a prostrate mass, wdiich looks best over- 

 hanging a large rock, and is. in tiower the whole 

 sunnner. Another (rotiindlfurui x Bclhirdi) 

 ha.s pale yellow pj'ostrate rotundifolia foliage 

 and erect four to si.x inch stems, with nodding 

 pale lilac, cup-like bells, intermediate in 

 shape. 



C. rhoinboidaJi.s X turbliKita has given me a 

 stocky plant throwing up a. sheaf of wiry, 

 erect, six inch stems, bearing large, wide open, 

 blue bells; a handsome plant. C. arvatlca x 

 hcUardi has small, crinkly leaves and four-inch 

 stems bearing tiny, wide open, hght blue cups. 

 ('. arvatica x tirolensis has similar but stouter 

 foliage and flowers borne like C. tirolensis, but 

 intermediate in shape and dark blue. C val- 

 dctisis X C. turhiiiata alba has- given me an 

 intermediate plant with the hairy foliage (jf C. 

 tutldciisiti and large white flowers, like 

 enormous haii'bclls. C. abictiiia x C Stcrrnni 

 has the foliage of Stevciifii and the flowers, 

 on stiff stems, like C. abictiiia. Others are 

 due to flower this year. 



These known and unknown hybrids show 

 that Campanula hybridizat'ion is as yet in its 

 infancy, i'or some reason' nnknown to me I 

 have hitherto not succeeded in getting fertile 

 seed from some of the more interesting crf)sses. 

 What one would like to get would be a plant 

 with the habit of C. Haiiirri and the colou.r of 

 C. puUa, or a plant \\ith the habit and hardi- 

 ness of C. P()rtcnnchJa(jiaiia, Avith flowers like 

 C Zojinii, but, of course, imich larger, but to 

 aiivdUc interested in hybi'idization there aie 

 woudci'ful ])ossibilities in the vast untrodden 

 helds of Cam{)anulas ! 



MukRAY HORXIUHOOK. 



Notes from my Rock Garden, 



{).\K of the chief joys in spring gardening is to 

 take a voyage of discovery around and count 

 one's gains during the year. Losses there 

 may be, and ])erliaps even some keen dis- 

 appointments, which should be taken in the 

 spirit ol' " bt'ltei' hick next time." 



This spring I rind the gains greater than 

 I lie losses, thanks to a fairly mild winter. It 

 is to be hoped that the early March lion, which 

 has arrived exactly a month late this year, 

 may not prove a frosty- lion, for so far it has 

 certainly been a lion of wind and rain and pro- 

 gress has slowed down a bit. 



I find quantities of I'lhuula seedlings 

 tioiirishing, especially the lovely variety 1'. 

 japiiiilni alba, the subject of a charming illus- 

 tration in last month's Irish G.^rdening. 

 There are also quantities of AquUajki Hclciue, 

 A. (jlandidosa, A. pyrcnaica and others. The 

 loveliest and dwarfest of the blues, \\hich are 

 so riseful, coming into bloom when th(3 

 Oentians (en ///((.s.sc) have faded away. They 

 are all making fine tufts, and many should 

 blossom this season. Seedlings of Cheiranthus, 

 yEthionema and Incarvillea also look well, and 

 many cuttings of the first-named, and of 

 Violas, Dianthus, Eock Roses, I'hloxes and 

 such like give promise of bloom. 



Among the " labour saving " rock plants, 

 which are not many, there is a quaint little, 

 bright pink Viola or Violet, quite like the 

 mauve-blue, unscented Violet, now blooming 

 in the hedge-rows; the blossom may be rather 

 larger. I bought it for a " rare pink Viola"; 

 ])erhaps some reader may know more about it 

 than I do, as T have never seen it catalogued. 

 It is a delightful little plant, now blooming 

 luxuriantly, almost hidden anujngst stones, 

 sheltered from sun and wind and in poor soil. 

 I was going to weed out the parent plant and 

 its numerous seedlings, produced from the pro- 

 fusion of seed pods that came instead of 

 fiowers. There never seoued the least chance 

 of ever seeing a blossom and 1 looked on it as 

 a fraud, when one da.y 1 came upcjn a plant in 

 full bloom, as described above, in the crevice 

 it had chosen for its home, a long w^ay from the 

 j)arent plant. 1 felt very grateful to it f(jr 

 looking after itself and am still a little puzzled 

 about it. One thing is very evident, that it is 

 as independent as it is rare and pretty. 



The planting of cuttings should now be 

 undertaken and any propagation that will save 

 time later on, when the seeds that have hecYi 

 harvested must be sown. There are seeds to 

 1)6 sown now% such as Linarias, rosea and 

 ali)ina, very charming rock plants wdiich will 



