858 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



November 9, 1912. 



the elixir vitae of many alpines* Neither ing branches were neat, and made a nice 

 does aspect make much difference to it. 



green carpet, but one did not expect to see 

 a completed effect of the kind which fol- 

 lowed. In" spring this carpet of green le- 

 came thickly dappled over with the most 

 charming tiny flowers of white, pencilled 

 with lilac in such a manner that they 

 looked like pale blue stars on this earth-veil 

 of verdure. Then the quiet, gentle beauty 

 of this speedwell was revealed, and it 

 leaped at once into the affections of its 

 grower. One found that it disliked 

 drought ; and it was in very dry soil, and 

 the east winds of spring sought to parch 

 it up. This caused its removal to a half- 

 shady, moister place, where it throve well, 

 but until then it received many a good 

 canful of water, to its great delight and 

 slug is usually so gratifie<l by his repiust to the benefit of its owner. To those who 

 that he is certain to return to repeat his know it not one would say : Do not expect 



Its failing is that it is a toothsome morsel 

 for the slug, and that vile enemy is too 

 generally present in the rock garden, 

 slaughter him as we may. The curious 

 thing is that a plant of C Zoysi may be 

 exempt from the attentions of the slug 

 for years, and may grow into a nice clump 

 as much as two feet across, to make us 

 wax proud and forget the Nemesis which is 

 awaiting us. Then some spring we may 

 wake up and find C. Zoysi all cropp(Kl to the 

 ground, and looking as far removed from 

 life as the good Queen Anne of proverbial 

 quotation. We may be cheered by an ap- 

 parent revival of the plant by fresh growths 

 from the cropped crowns, but the gourmand 



enjoyment, with the almost unfailing re- 

 sult that our delightful plant is no 1 



a showy speedwell, but only a dainty little 

 alpine.'' 



SEEDLING ROSES AT BELFAST BEARING THEIR FIRST FLOWERS 



in the land of the living. Yet C. Zoysi is 

 sucli a lovely thing, with its dainty leaves 

 and its exquisite hlue, curiously hottle- 

 shaped flowers, that we are always hoping 

 against hope and replacing our plants, only 

 to meet again with the same disappoint- 

 ment, without, in many cases, having time 

 to enjoy its beauties for long. And so we 

 cry ^'Ichabod,'* and try something else in- 

 stead of this delightful native of Styria. 



Veronica, repens. 



The native island of tlie Great Napoleon 

 Corsica — has given us at least one charm- 



Lady Larpent's Leadwort. 



This is the old alliterative English name 

 of Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, which in 

 former days we were wont to call by the 

 easier name of Plumbago Larpent^e. It also 



this ceratostigma should find its way into 

 all rock gardens 'where its delights can be 

 enjoyed as September and October 

 round. 



come 



Dianthus Freyni. 



If 



the reader looks up a catalogue in 

 which Dianthus Freyni is listed, he will pro- 

 bably find that the price is such as will 

 make him shake his head and turn away 

 with the thought that for the cost of one 

 small plant he could regale himself with 

 three^ four, or five other heauties. Not 

 that it is as costly as many alpines, but it 

 is generally expensive enough to make the 

 would-be purchaser pause before he decides 

 to huy it. Yet he had 'better consider well 

 ere he ties his pur&e-strings against the call 

 of Dianthus Freyni. It is well to warn him, 

 however, that some fail with it, and that, 

 like many other charming things, this pink 

 has to ibe studied in its way if it is to be- 

 come and to remain a happy occupant of 

 the garden. Yet it is worth some trouble, 

 for does it not make one of the daintiest 

 cushions imaginable of small leaves, close- 

 set together, adorned in due course with 

 small rose flowers of gem-like character ? 

 It is not now in the writer's garden, suc- 

 cumbing to some unavoidable neglect, 

 caused 'by entrusting his pet plants during 

 a short aibsence to the tender mercies of 

 a willing, though unlearned friend. But it 

 throve for years in a flat pocket of the 

 rockery, in sand, grit, and loam^ with small 

 grit and stones about it, and with plenty 

 of water in dry weather and top-dressings 

 of almost pure sand twice a year — in spring 

 and autumn. Though absent now, it will 

 not be long a stranger to the writer ^s 

 g a r den . S . A bnott . 



plants which one would not like to have occurs 



THE BLUE ASH. 



Among the numerous kinds of ash suit- 

 able for planting in the British Isles, this is 

 very distinct on account of its four-angled 

 branches, which suggested the specific 

 name of quadrangulata. 



Fraxinus quadrangulata is a native of the 

 United States, where, in the rich moist 

 valleys of Southern Indiana and Illinois it 

 is said to attain a height of I20ft., with a 

 trunk 3ft. to 4ft. in diameter, although in 

 less favourable localities its maximum 

 height is given as 75ft., and its trunk dia- 

 meter as 2^ft. There is no reason to sup- 

 pose that it will /be of service for forest 

 planting in this country, although it may 

 well be used for gardens and parks. In 

 America, however, it enters into the various 

 uses to which other ash wood is put. Ex- 

 cept for its young branches being remark- 

 able for their well-developed angles there 

 is nothing to stamp it as very distinct from 

 some other kinds, the popular name having 

 nothing to do with the general aspect of the 

 tree, but on account of a blue dye which is 

 obtained by soaking the inner hark in 

 loved water. A figure and description of the 



absent from our 



In 



Handbook of 



e 



;peed 



which must be filled at the earliest possible 

 opportunity. The writer well recollects his 

 first plant of this exquisite little veronica. 

 It found its way into his garden some six 

 or seven-and-twt-iuy y^^ars n(r<), and ere it 

 came into flo\vf>i- it was held in but scant 



regard. Its liitU. leaves on the small creep- 



autumn 



when we have begun to find our rock gar 

 dens grow less attractive because of th, 

 waning away of our flowers with the shor- 

 tening days, it then comes with its exqui- 

 site blue flowers, and affords us deli^rht 

 on sunny rockwork, especially if well among 

 the stones and in a dry place. The lover 

 of tho gentianella and other gentians thinks 

 of these as he studies the colouring of Lady 

 Larpent's leadwort. Nor is his gratifica- 

 tion ended then, for as the season advance 

 these comparativelv unattractive leaves as 

 sume gorgeous colouring of red, maroon 

 and other tints. Truly a valuable plant' 



in " Hough's 

 Trees of the Northern States and Canada, 



p. 389. W. D. 



Abelia. rupestris.— Also k 



OW] 



by 



S 



the names of Abelia chinensis and Abelia um- 

 flora, this is an exceedingly pretty littk 

 shrub, that flower^ during the late summer 

 and early autumn months. It forms a neat^ 

 tvriggj bush, with slender shoots, clothed 

 with shining green-pointed leaves. T"^ 

 funnel-shaped flowers are borne in partially 

 drooping clusters at the points of the ehoots. 

 They are in colour white, shaded with pink. 

 It is a choice little shrub that must not he 

 placed in conjunction with strong-growing 

 subjects.— W. 



