IRISH GARDENING 



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Garden Notes from C>Q* Clare 



AtTKK an exceptioiuilly mild and wet winter here, 

 most things in the garden have started into growth 

 before their normal time, and now that the weather 

 has been wretfhed for the i)ast fortnight, early 

 flowering plants have suffered very much. 



Daffodils, for instance, in their early days looked 

 very beautiful; but when the time came for cutting, 

 it was with difficulty that one covdd pick a decent 

 bunch. For the first few days after opening their 

 flowers they stood erect, and promised to give a 

 good display; their colours, too, were even better 

 than in other years; whether it was that the soft, 

 sunless days had anything to do with it or not I 

 am not sure, but the fact remains, and their rich 

 yellow flowers showed wonderfully against the deep 

 green foliage. 



However, their beauty did not last long, for the 

 weather from the first few days of their flowering 

 was entirely against them. Wliat with violent and 

 cold winds, heavy showers of hailstones, strong 

 sunshine for half an hour, then another big shower, 

 and the big masses of golden trumpets, that a few 

 days ago stood so proudly on their long slender 

 stalks, lie tattered and nuid-splashed and in utter 

 disgrace. 



The flowering shruljs, however, have not, so far, 

 suffered the same fate as the Daffodils, es])ecially 

 those planted in any kind of shelter, and the 

 Berberises here (especially Darwinii) are excep- 

 tionally fine this year, some of them standing seven 

 or eight feet high, with their long branches bending 

 over and waving in the wind, others dwarf and 

 flowering on short, stubby branches, but all of them 

 laden down with the finest of l)lossoms. ^ 



Planted as those are here in the grass along the 

 avenue mider the trees, they are very effective at 

 this time of the year, as their colours seem to show 

 l)etter under the shade of the over-spreading 

 branches. 



Those shrubs, if the weather conditions favour 

 them at the time of flowering,' produce an abinid- 

 ance of berries, which, when ripened, are of a 

 purple colour, and make a very fine show later on 

 in the season; this feature making the Berberis a 

 very effective shrub, and well worth growing in the 

 garden. However, they do not always get the 

 chance of showing off their.; berries, for our 

 feathered friends, the birds, " of which we have 

 more than enough in this locality," know where 

 the good things grow, and they soon make short 

 work of our garden finery. 



Before I finisli with the shrub.s I would like to say 

 a word or two about Cydonia japonica, which at the 

 present time is in full blossom here, and I must say 

 looks exceedingly well, with its rosettes of single 

 pinkish flowers, showing very well against the soft 

 green foliage. 



This wall shrub is growing in an extremely cold 

 position on a wall facing the north, and considering 

 that it never gets a bit of sunshine, and has to face 

 all the harsh north winds, after all this, to make 

 such a good show as it does her^, it should be appre- 

 ciated more by gardeners, as there are always cold 

 north walls, where this shrub would come in very 

 useful for decorative purposes, when other more 

 tender things would not do so well in the same 

 position. 



As regards fruit prospects, I am afraid I cannot 

 write in a very happy vein. Taking Pears ancl 

 Plums first, on the one hand, nature seemingly has 



given us a great profusion of healthy, stout 

 blossoms; but, on the other hand, the eleuients are 

 treating this fine show in a v«ry rude manner, thus 

 naturally jeopardising the prospects of plentiful 

 crops of those fruits. The weather recently has 

 lieen niost unseasonable, as above mentioned, with 

 gloomy, sunless days dominating the fine ones, so 

 we have not had the pleasure of seeing much of the 

 " busy bees " amongst the blossoms. 



Pears and Plums in this locality are abnormally 

 forward this year, and have unfortunately to meet 

 those unfavourable weather conditions. We can 

 only hope that in all tlie profusion of blossoms, 

 sufiicient may escape the blast to give us a fair 

 crop. 



The nuxjority of Pears and Plums were in almost 

 full blossom by mid-March this season, consequent, 

 no doubt, on the mild, wet winter. 



Strawberries and bush fruits look very healthy 

 and promising for good crops. Apples are again 

 showing blossoms abundantly, and do not appear 

 to be so nuich out of season as Pears and Plums. 

 The blossoms are also very clean and pkunp. 

 Really, after such a display as they nuide last year, 

 it is surprising to see such an abundant pros- 

 pect as we have this season. Only a few varieties 

 are showing sparsely; the most noticeal)le in this 

 way are Allington Pippin, Newton Wonder, and 

 Cox's Orange Pippin. 



As above mentioned, the Apples are not so for- 

 ward as other fruits this year, the only Ap]jle in. 

 flower at the tinje of writing (A})ril i2th) being 

 Irish Peach. 



To sum up, all kinds of fruit would point to a 

 promising yield if the weather were favoura))le to 

 them, but for the present it looks as if it is going 

 to be the contrary, so we will only have to wait and 

 see, and in the meantime hope for the best. 



Co. Clare. J.\mes O'Garroll. 



Eremurus robustus. 



The Giant Asi)hodel, as it is often called, Erfin uius 

 robiistus is one of the handsomest herbaceous plants 

 in cultivation, and is a delightful ornau)ent of the 

 sunnner flower garden. The root system is com- 

 posed of a whorl of thick, fleshy, brittle roots, with 

 a stout bud in the centre of the whorl, from which 

 arise the long, brotid strap-shaped leaves and the 

 stout flower stem rising to a height of six or eight 

 feet, and bearing on its upper half innunu^rable 

 pink or flesh-coloured flowers. The flowers are 

 produced in June, and make a wonderfid dis{)lay, 

 particularly when the plants are grown in colonies. 

 Planting sliould be done as soon as i)ossible after 

 the leaves have died down, probably by August, 

 and certainly not later than the end of Sei:)tember, 

 if satisfactory results are to be obtained the follow- 

 ing year. A deep warm soil is essential, cold, 

 damp soil causijig decay of the fleshy roots. When 

 planted in the ordinary herbaceous border care 

 nuist be taken in selecting positions, as, owing to 

 the spreading natin-e of the root system, it is not 

 advisable to dig close to the plants. For groups in 

 sunny shrubberies or for beds by themselves the 

 Erennu'i are admirable, but where a continuous 

 display is necessary it nuist be remembered that 

 there will be a blank when they pass out of flower 

 and die down; arrangements nuist be made 

 accordingly. 



Of the species in question thei-e are several 

 varieties, notably Eliresiajiiis, more robust than 

 the type, and the beautiful pure white EUresianus 

 albiis. ! 



