June 13, 1872. ] 



JOUKNAL OP HOETICULTDBE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



483 



noticcJ in public journals, that we shall here only record the 

 present appeajauce of the trees, which is highly encourafjiug. 

 Some twelve years ago these trees were mere skeletons, and 

 the fragments we noticed in the glen ai'e pai-t of the same lot 

 when transplanted. With one exception the trees in this 

 avenue ai'e fine, healthy, and with a little more assistance in 

 a few years will be a sight perfectly unique in Ireland. 



The young trees of rare kinds are growing-up with great 

 rapidit}'. In the wood ou the left of this avenue, and behind 

 the rock garden on the opposite side, the trees have a charming 



appearance. A quantity of fine "mixture" for trees was 

 being carted on to this ground. We were, however, disap- 

 pointed to learn from Mr. Matheson that this strip of ground 

 is to be laid down in grass. This gi-ound being outside the 

 enclosed gi'ounds, and considering its position with regard to 

 the rock garden, we tliiuk the natural growth of Billberry, 

 Heather, Fern, and Wood Eush, &c., is infinitely more in- 

 teresting and in better keeping than a poor covering of weedy 

 grass. 

 We must defer oui' remaining notes on the gardens. 



AQUILEGIA GLANDULOSA, 



Theue are coineidonces in every man's life that ai-e very re- 

 markable. A man who was our gardener forty years ago, was 

 by our desk and reminding us of " deeds of other days," when 

 one of om- clerks brought to us a group of the flowers of Aqui- 

 legia glandulosa, and our gardener exclaimed — " Why, these 

 were in your garden !" and 

 so they were, and we looked 

 at them and had eaUed-up 

 before us foiins and happy 

 doings in that garden of 

 " long, long ago." We could 

 dwell upon that past, but we 

 must be content silently to 

 mourn for those gone, and 

 remember that we Hve for 

 the living. 



Therefore, we will at once 

 state that the group of Aqui- 

 legia glandulosa flowers was 

 sent to us by Messrs. Carter 

 and Co., nursery and seeds- 

 men. High Holborn. We be- 

 lieve that they have raised a 

 good supply of its seed, and 

 we can attest the truth of 

 this statement in then' note, 

 " It is difficult to obtain seed 

 of this species." 



A taste for herbaceous 

 plants is reviving, and once 

 more we express the plea- 

 sure this gives us ; for how- 

 ever much we admire the 

 stereotyped beauty of bed- 

 ded-out plants, we no less ad- 

 mu'e the beauty — the varied 

 successional beauty — of the 

 herbaceous and annual flower 

 borders. Everyone who ad- 

 mires these should have 

 among them AquOegia glan- 

 dulosa. It is one of the 

 most gi'aceful and' beautiful 

 of flowers, its large blue 

 sepals around its group of 

 white petals render it a fit- 

 ting bridal flower, and its 

 tender green foliage i.s no 

 less appropriate. 



in diameter, and of a form and substance far superior to that 

 of the original plant. This improved plant is not apt to sport 

 or change its colours, and seldom runs iu any direction, except 

 to a degenerate or diminutive size. 



" This Columbine is quite hai'dy and adapted for flower-beds 

 . in the open ground, where 

 it requires no protection in 

 winter. Dmingthe months 

 of May and .June, when well 

 ^ grown, it is by far the most 



gay and attractive flower 

 of the season. It is also 

 adapted for being forced 

 into bloom early in spiing, 

 when it tonus a rich em- 

 beUishment iu the gi-een- 

 house. Plants from seed 

 sometimes flower during the 

 second, but more commonly 

 the third, summer of their 

 growth. Ou first flowering, 

 the plants generally yield 

 from six to ten blooms, but 

 for several years after the 

 number increases gi'eatly, 

 and, when favourably treat- 

 ed, some plants have been 

 known to yield in one sum- 

 mer eighty blooms, many of 

 them upwards of 4 inches in 

 diameter. In the course of 

 eight or ten yeai's the plants 

 get exhausted, when the 

 flowering becomes very un- 

 certain ; the ground should 

 therefore be cleared of such', 

 and filled up with healthy 

 young plants. The seeds of 

 this plant are ripe by the 

 beginning of autumn, and 

 may be sown any time before 

 the end of March. When 

 sown in autumn, some plants 

 generally appear above 

 ground in course of a few 

 weeks, but the principal part 

 commonly lies dormant until 

 spiing. Such as appear be- 

 fore winter require to be pro- 



Aquilegift glandulosa. 



It IS the Aqmlegia speciosa of De CandoUe, but is usually | tected, lest they be ejected from the gi-ound by severe frost, 

 described by other botanists as A. glandulosa vai-. discolor, or i It is not unusual for seeds of this plant to vegetate after 

 Two-coloured Glanded Columbine. More than twenty years remaining in the ground many months. In a hotbed they 

 since it was fully noticed by a good authority. " ' | push more readily, but under any cu'cumstances they are 



" This plant is a native of some of the mountains of j more stiff to vegetate than any other Aquilegia, and generally 

 Chinese Tartary, seldom exceeding a foot in height, blooming rise very unequal, even when the seeds are newly ripened, 

 sparingly, and although possessed of elegance and beauty, the The ground for seeds should bo rich and friable, and the 

 blossoms seldom much more than 1 inch in diameter. covering vei-y tliin, with constant moisture, and whoUy or 



" The experiments made on the plant at the Fon-es Nurseries ] partially shaded. That most suitable is a rich mellow earth, 

 failed in producing any valuable hybrid varieties with colours | partaking a little of bog or peat earth, and rather cool and 

 superior to those of the normal plant ; but while the colours I moist than otherwise. Seedling plants should be removed 

 generally remained unchanged, the size and rigour of some of j either the first or second year of their gi-owth, and transplanted 

 the seedling plants were vei-y much increased — properties I into beds or lines, from 10 to 12 ruches plant from plant. Those 

 which have continued during the last ten years throughout re- j of equal strength should be placed together, as such form the 

 peated crops of seedling plants. In ordinary favourable seasons ! most complete appearance in a flower-bed. Any time from 

 plants from three to seven years old generally rise from 1} foot September to April, in open weather, admits of the plants being 

 to 2 feet high, and furnished with from forty to a hundred i removed ; but no plants can be depended on to flower freely if 

 blossoms each, many of the blooms being upwards of 4 inches ' transplanted when beyond the age of three years. 



