IRISH GARDENING 



marked, variegated shrub, its clear yellow 

 tlowei's well sliown up by the white and '^rvy 

 foliage. 



(lauUlii'iiii (Irlffiiliiiiiiti. having long. gra<'e 

 till stems with netted leaves and greenish 

 flowers. 



Wicciniii III ijUiHco-aJhuiu . — This vei'y nxw 

 pl.-mt from Xorth India is most remarkable for 

 its buiudies of purple fruits covered with 

 glaucous bloom. 



(1. V I'ifcliii, the most free-flowering of the 

 group. A lovv-sprea<ling ])lant about foiu- h-et 

 across, every stem hung with white l^ily nt thi' 

 \'alleydike flowers. 



(', . Iiisjiidd is shrubby, five feet high, with 

 whitt' flowers ti})ped with bright rosy i)ink. 



In striking contrast is Gaultheria (infipo(hi, 

 a hard, wiry-looking, dwarf plant with dark, 

 )eddish-brown, narrow leaves and greenish 

 flowers borne from base to tip of the stem, 

 greatly enlivened by last year's bright pink 

 fruits, which seem to be quite fresh. Two 

 dwarf Khododendrons of the Wilson-Veitch 

 collection are a striking contrast to the giant 

 Rhododendron arhoreum hybrids which act as 

 '■ nurses " and " shelters " on the hillside. 



R. fastigiatu)n, with tufts of blue flowers, 

 about a foot high, and R. verruculosum, even 

 smaller, of a dumose habit; few but bigger 

 flowers than E. fastigiatimi and of a deeper 

 l)lue colour. 



R. Grifjifliiauuin, sixteen feet high, carrying 

 about 250 trusses of large white flowers with 

 pink touches, which look as if the blossoms 

 wei'e ■■ blushing at their own loveliness." It 

 has l)een noticed in several gardens this year 

 that this pink colour is strf)nger than usual. 

 /.'. Griffithianum x R. Fortunei are the 

 ))arents of that most beautiful of all hybrids, R. 

 Lodcri, raised by the late Sir Edmund Loder, 

 and named by Kew after him, and is a fine 

 memorial of a good gardener and a great 

 naturalist, whose death last month is deplored 

 by all who knew him. R. Jjoderi is bigger 

 l)oth in individual flower and truss than R. 

 (liit]if]ii(ininn . The blossoms quite six inches 

 in diameter, frf)m ivory white to rosy pink, six 

 segments with piu'e white stamens. It is this 

 last character whicli places R. Loderi so far 

 in advance of //. /'//;/,■ Prarl, which has dis- 

 figuring bluish stamens. Two other seedlings of 

 the same cross, but not so distinctive, ai'e 

 R. Lodcri "Pretty Tolly " and //. Liulrrl 

 " Patience." 



Still higher up the hill stands a fine, straight 

 shrub, twelve feet high, of Laurelia serrafa- 

 joJia, with sharply-toothed, aromatic leaves of 

 a dull green colour. This grew from a cutting 

 taken from the famous Co. Wicklow plant. 



McUcijtiis nniiijiora has long, sharply- 

 toothed leaves, and scattered between the 

 axils of them are inconsjiieuous, tiny, violet- 

 shaped, brown flowers, which require to be 

 seen through a magnifying glass to appreciate 

 their (juaint beauty. 



I'itio.sporiiHi Kugenioldca, Bi") feet high, 

 covered with trusses of cream-coloured flowers; 

 broad leaves waved or crimi)ed at the edges. 



Acradenia Franldini, a native of Tasmania, 

 seldom seen outside a greenhouse, here 

 flourishes out f)f doors. 



Weill nnniiilti niccniosit and IT', t ricJio.'^jicrnin , 

 two New Zealanilers who look (juite happy; 

 leaves a cui'ious l>r(jwn green colour. 



ftcd lUcijolia l)elongs to the Saxifraga family, 

 boasts a leaf like a holly, as its name says; it 

 has a curious tassel-like flower and altogether 

 most unlike a Saxifrage. 



Of I'ittosporum P. tenuifoJia, thirty feet high, 

 fifteen feet through, covered with bright 

 chocolate, velvet-biiown flowers; P. nigricans, 

 with small silvery leaves; P. Maijii with waved 

 leaves and the same charming brown flowers 

 make a lovely group. In striking contrast is 

 P. rigid u lit, exactly like a Corokea, of sup- 

 pressed, upright habit, with involved growth of 

 twisted, thin stems covered with tiny leaves 

 and a nmltitude of pinhead black flowers. 

 Truly, the fairy godmother of the Pittosporums 

 treated this one shabbily. 



Cf'anofliUH rigid us, flowering late, has long 

 branches of cloudy blue, densely set flowers; 

 sprays twelve inches long; a most attractive, 

 elegant shrub. 



Another cui'ious member of this family is 

 P. pat III inn , a tall, gaunt, uinight stem A\ith 

 a few l)i'anches, and leaves about one-eighth 

 of an inch wide, and waved. A ])lant that 

 looks not made to give shelter or shade to man 

 or beast. 



A brilliant patch of bright rose colour and 

 yellow which caught the eye from afar — Poly- 

 gala Vagredce, from Spain; a very rare and 

 most deliglitful plant, brighter in coloin- than 

 P. huyijolia and of a creeping hahit, 

 covei'ed with flower. This plant was growing 

 through granite stones and is about four and a 

 half feet across. A most striking plant foi- a 

 I'ock graden. Xanthorliha apii folia — " the 

 yellow root " — has thread-lik'e spi'ays of brown 

 flf)wers; a curious interesting shrub. Here ^t 

 is gi'owing and spreading among an irruption 

 of rocks. It is not a common plant. 



R. Jrpidoiinii , an alpine PJiododendron 

 with flat, bright, magenta-coloured flowers, the 

 backs of which are covered with brown scales, 

 hence its name. This plant detests lime. R. 

 amhiginnn , witli pale yellow flowers, contrasts 



