86 



IRISH GARDENING 



Wallflowers* 



The Wallflowers oi the present would scarcely 

 be recognised by the gardeners (jf other days. 

 Under the skilful care of enterprising seed 

 growers the old blood-red and yellow varieties 

 have yielded a variety of beautiful shades 

 which, planted in beds of a sort, or grouped for 

 colour effect have quite transformed the spring 

 Hower garden. In habit, too, much improve- 

 has taken place ; lanky shoots with small 

 though sweetly-scented, flowers have given 

 j)lace to dwarfer compact growths with well- 

 d(>veloped flowers of the richest colouring. 



Cultivation, however, has much to do with 

 habit, and early so^ving, thotigh commendable 

 for some kinds of biennials, is not to be re- 

 conuiiended for Wallflowers. Plants raised too 

 early are much too lai'ge to be successfully 

 transplanted in October, and if left till early 

 spring they are useless. For most parts of 

 Ireland the first week in June is abtmdantly 

 early to sow Wallflowers. A well-etdtivated 

 bed, with the surface finely broken, well firmed 

 and raked level, should be selected in an open 

 position. Sow the seeds thinly in drills nine 

 inches apart and one inch deep, and protect 

 from birds either by rolling the seeds in slightly 

 moistened red lead or by spreading over the 

 bed a piece of fish net. When the seedlings 

 are four or five inches high transplant them to 

 firm beds, planting them nine inches apart, 

 and if the weather be dry give a thorough soak- 

 ing of wateir. Subsequently keep the soil be 

 tween the rows well loosened with the hoe, 

 but be careful not to loosen the plants. By 

 October they should be sttirdy, bushy plants 

 fit to move to any j^art of the garden, or if 

 necessary, they may be left in the nursery 

 beds and transplanted in spring, a practice 

 often followed in cold, damp localities where 

 Wallflowers suffer in winter. 



As noted above, quite a number of varieties, 

 varying in colour, can now be had, and the 

 following is a selection: — Belvoir Castle, 

 yellow; Cranford Beauty, yellow; Cloth of 

 Gold, bright yellow; Eastern Queen, salmon 

 rose; Ellen Willmott, ruby red; Faerie Queen, 

 pale citron; Fireball, fiery orange; Fire King, 

 in-illiant orange; Golden Monarch, yellow; 

 Ivory White, of that colour; Kinver Favourite, 

 rich blood-red ; Primrose Dame and Primrose 

 Monarch, both good yellows; Vesuvius, orange 

 scarlet; Vulcan, deep blood-red; White Gem, 

 creamy white and Piuby Gem, ruby violet. 



Headers of Irish Gardening would be well 

 advised to invest a shilling or two in some of 

 these varieties, most of which can be obtained 

 from the advertisers in this Journal. The 

 possibilities in blending and contrasting the 



colours are endless, and the garden, large or 

 suiall, which has a fair display of Wallflowers 

 in April and .Ma\ will be I'lill of delight to the 

 happy ownci'. Cheikaxtiius. 



Primula Wanda (Baker). 



I'kniULA -J I" 1. 1 AH bad not long been in cultiva- 

 tion before a hybrid with a Polyanthus 

 occurred; this was named P. Ciit<iiii and bore 

 a Polyanthus bloom of colour, as far as I re- 

 collect, near -Juliie, with intermediate foliage. 

 Although of gi'eat interest the plant had no 

 particular merit. Primula x Wanda, however, 

 a hybrid with some P. acaulis form, is a plant of 

 great merit. It forms a Primrose-like tuft with 

 distinctly petiolate leaves, like P. JiiUte, but 

 uithout the latter 's gloss. It started flowering 

 early in March, a month before P. J nVuc itself. 

 The flowers are larger and of a deej), luminous, 

 crimson purple, which does not fade at the 

 edges like ]■". Julue. It should propagate 

 easily, and a clump, when anyone possesses 

 such, should be a goodly sight early in the 

 year. It is happy in similar conditions to 

 P. JiiVue E. B. Anderson. 



Cortusa Transylvanica. 



CoRTusA Mattiiiolii is a little coarse and of 

 a not particularly attractive colour, but the 

 above variety is distinctly superior, although 

 only a form of C. Matthiolii. It forms similar 

 tufts of bright green leaves, which are very 

 cheery rising up from the dark earth. It bears 

 very numerous umbels of drooping flowers 

 which hang daintily on a thin pedicel and are 

 a bright but not too deep magenta in colour. 

 At this time of year, with storm clouds over- 

 head, the effect of the fresh green foliage and 

 bright buds and flowers is most attractive. It 

 seems to appreciate peaty soil in partial shade 

 and is increasing rapidly. The whole plant is 

 neater and daintier than C. Mattiiiolii and well 

 v/ortli growing. E. B. Anderson. 



A Rival to the Maple. 



Surpassing in strangenes.s any l)Otanieal di.seovery 

 made in recent times is that of a new source of 

 sugar in the leaves of the Douglas Fir, wliieli 

 grows in certain confined portions of the dry belt 

 of Britisli Cohuubia. Professor John Davidson, 

 F.L.S., F.B.S.E., of the University of British 

 Columbia, spent nuicli time in the dry l3elt region 

 for the purpose of investigating the phenomenon. 

 He found that trees on southern and eastern ex- 

 posures on gentle slopes in the dry belt region 

 of British Columbia, lying between parallels 50 

 and 51 and longitude 121 to 122, chiefly yielded 

 sugar. The trees which yielded were well apart, 

 thus receiving a good supply of sunlight on their 

 leaves, a more plentiful supply of sinilight on their 

 roots, and having a better air circulation through 

 them than trees in densely forested areas. — 

 Canadian Neirs Items. 



