go 



IRISH GARDENING. 



Roses. 



By O'DONEL BROWNE, M.D. 



you place a light one next it and a light bloom below. 

 Let me give an example, as I can make it clearer : — 



FIND I took yoi: to the 

 show too qiiickl}- in last 

 month's article, inas- 

 much as I did not tell 

 you how, and when, 

 and what to cut. Let 

 us suppose your box 

 and tubes are all ready 

 and to-morrow is the 

 show day. Now, much 

 will depend as to where 

 the show is ; it may be 

 at home or far away. 

 ^ -^ Another very important 



point is the time of year, 

 for blooms to be shown in July and August are very 

 different to deal with. Let us take it that we are to 

 show at a place to-morrow that is quite local ; by this 

 I mean within an easy distance, so as to arrive there 

 in time to allow staging, &c. Most people advise you 

 to cut in the morning early, but this is a risky pro- 

 cedure. Roses grow very rapidly early in the day, 

 and great care is necessary to mind what you cut. 

 Another point about this early cutting is that there may 

 be dew or moisture on the blooms, and if cut at this 

 stage, when you arrive at the show you will notice some 

 blooms spotted in places. If you can wait until this dew 

 has evaporated, then cut ; but when all is said and done 

 you might more safely cut your blooms the night 

 previous, and wire them, and get them safely in their 

 tubes, and give your boxes plenty of air all night. More 

 than once I have seen rain coming, and have cut dry 

 blooms, and next day had the pleasure (?) of seeing 

 opponents coming with spotty blooms. To wire a 

 bloom is an easy matter with the usual wires sold with 

 Foster's tubes. Cut your bloom from the tree with at 

 least six inches of wood. Carry the bloom quickly to the 

 box, and proceed to wire it thus — Get the base oi the 

 bloom into loop at head of the wire. With the fine wire 

 take a couple of turns round the stalk, just tight enough 

 to hold the rose firmly. Then pass down to lower wire, 

 and do the same with it round the stalk or shoot. Do 

 not bother with the loop halfway down the wire. Cut 

 your stalk or shoot when wiring is complete about one 

 inch longer than the wire, and place rose and wire into 

 cup of tube. Label the rose, and do the same with all. 

 There is a projecting ring on Foster's cup to carry the 

 label. All roses for shows are " tied up " a day or so to 

 help the bloom to lengthen, and to prevent it from 

 expanding. I very much doubt if it can hinder the 

 latter. To tie a bloom take about six inches of cotton 

 wool, such as Berlin white wool, and make a loop b\- 

 passing one end twice over the other. Put the loop 

 over centre of bloom, leaving the wing petals loose, 

 and pull the two ends moderately tight, just enough 

 to prevent the loop slipping. This loop is not 

 removed until show time, when, by lifting one end 

 up, the whole tie slips off the centre of the rose. Tie all 

 your blooms fairly early ; but do not tie them when 

 wet. 



Now, we will suppose you have to show a stand of 

 twelve blooms, and that you have cut, wired and tied all 

 ready. You should try and take a spare for all, as 

 there is no knowing what may befall your picked lot. 

 These spares should be younger blooms, and should be 

 treated just the same as your best blooms are. As a 

 twelve box is the nicest and easiest to arrange, we will 

 suppose you are ready to arrange the blooms in the 

 probable place they are to occupy at the show. Let us 

 suppose you have a level, even lot of blooms, all the 

 same size, or nearly so, then try and arrange them so 

 that a dark and light bloom are next one another, so as 

 to show each other up. Beginning with a dark rose, 



Hugh Dickson 

 Frau K. Druschki 

 J)ean tlole 



Mildred Grant 

 Ulrich Brunner 

 Mrs I). M'Kee 



Alfred Colomb ^ Bessie Brown 

 C. Testout I J. B. Clark 



Prince .'\rthur | Mrs. J. Laing 



In this you will see that Ulrich Brunner has four light 

 coloured roses round him, whereas Mildred Grant has 

 three dark ones. But very often there is a graduation 

 of sizes. Then you begin with your biggest blooms at the 

 back and the smallest in the front, keeping the best quality 

 blooms for the end of the lines. Mr. Pemberton advises 

 the addition of a yellow bloom, even if it is of questionable 

 value, to enchance the dark reds ; but beware of this 

 until you have some experience. It is all right for Mr. 

 Pemberton to try this, because he knows ivhoi to take 

 liberties, but you had better not. Add no foliage to 

 your box save what appertains to the stalk ; you can be 

 disqualified for this very common habit which some 

 amateurs have. What more ridiculous sight is there 

 than a Tea rose with coarse H. P. foliage scattered 

 round it ? At all times be careful about duplicates where 

 varieties are to be distinct. WVong naming by an 

 accident does not disqualif)', but a duplicate will. 



^^ 5^* ^^^ 



Tobacco. 



During the past few years great improvements have 

 been made in the size and colour of the flowers of the 

 tobacco plants, so that now the colours embrace 

 every shade between white and dark red. The hybrids 

 of Nicotiana sandercB, introduced a few years ago, are 

 without doubt the most beautiful and useful, coming into 

 flower in July, and flowering continuously until cut down 

 b)- frost. Their onl)- fault — if fault it may be called — is 

 that the flowers will not open in the sunlight ; but in the 

 evening, after sunset, the flowers expand and give forth 

 their delightful perfume to the cool evening air. 



The tobacco is generally treated as a half-hard}' 

 annual, although the thick, fleshy roots will in some 

 cases live throughout the winter. The seed should be 

 sown in February or March in light, rich mould, in 

 gentle heat, and when fit to handle should either be 

 potted oft' singh- into small pots or be pricked out in 

 boxes three or four inches apart, and grown on in heat 

 for a time, gradually hardening them oft", so that they 

 may be fit to plant out in their permanent places towards 

 the end of May. Seed may be sown in a cold frame in 

 April or in a very sheltered spot, where they may be 

 easily protected from late frosts or cold winds, and 

 pricked out as before when fit to handle. Planting out 

 should be done in dark, showery weather, or the plants 

 should be shaded for a few days, as the leaves are easily 

 injured by the sun when young. Slugs and snails 

 devour them greedily, so that they should be dusted with 

 lime and soot when planted. Plants suitable for bed- 

 ding out ma}' be obtained from nurserymen. 



P. J. O' Carroll. 



Q^* 8^^ e^^ 



Phlox Drummondi is a very showy, half-hardy 

 annual, which may be now safely sown in the open 

 border. It is a native of the United States, and many 

 varieties of it are in cultivation. The flowers show a 

 wide range of colour — white, scarlet, rose, pink, scarlet 

 salmon, crimson, purple, &c. Slugs are very partial to 

 phlox, and often clear off the j'oung plants. Dusting 

 the beds with soot is a "g^ootX plan, and will not injure the 

 plants if carefully applied. To get the fullest advantage 

 of phloxes they should be planted in patches or beds, 

 and pegged down if needed, so that when they flower 

 the}' present "a sheet of bloom." They are old and 

 worth}- annuals. Tr}- them if you have not done so. 



G. Fraser. 



