September 26, 190S. 
\ Beautiful 
The English Irises are so named be- 
Lse they have_been improved in Eng- 
sh gardens for so many years, and m 
rder” to distinguish them from the 
panisli Irises. Neither of these 
secies of Iris are peculiar to the coun¬ 
ts to which they are accredited. The 
panish Ins, no doubt, grows in Spain, 
ut it is not confined to Spain. They 
re amongst the most generally useful 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
English Iris 
(Iris xiphioides). 
sible, but the garden lover should make 
a point of not letting October, pass be¬ 
fore the bulbs are committed to the 
ground. They should not be very 
widely planted to get the best effects, 
and the narrow leaves allow of very 
close planting. The most effective 
groups or beds of English Irises are 
those which are planned at six inches 
apart each way. 
English Iris (Iri 
}f the bulbous Irises, and do not com¬ 
pete with one another. The Spanish 
irises are the first to come into bloom, 
.vhile the English Irises make a suc¬ 
cession about a fortnight to three weeks 
afterwards, the proper month being 
fulv. While the habit and leaves of 
Iboth these groups of Irises are similar, 
they differ greatly in robustness. The 
English Irises are taller, strongergrow¬ 
ing, with larger leaves and larger 
flowers. 
The more typical or wild form, such 
as occasionally may be seen in old cot¬ 
tage gardens, is a bright blue and quite 
characteristic of the ordinary type of 
Iris, but the plant differs from the flag 
Irises in having very narrow, grass-like 
leaves. The bulbs constitute an easy 
means of planting this Iris annually in 
beds that have been occupied with 
summer flowering plants in theiir sea¬ 
son. It would be an advantage to get 
the bulbs in the ground as soon as pos- 
xiphioides). Dicksons. 
During the long period in which they 
have been grown in gardens in this 
country, a great improvement or rathei 
diversity in the matter of colours has 
been effected. Now the garden lover 
is able to get English Irises varying 
from the purest white to the richest 
indigo-blue. These shades of blue 
commence with the delicate and faint 
porcelain-blue, gradually becoming 
darker until the blue is shaded with 
purple, violet or indigo. On the other 
hand, these purple hues have varied 
into red, clear purple and rich claret. 
Many- striped varieties are also obtain¬ 
able^ and although they are) highly 
conspicuous on account of the contrast 
made by two colours, we think the seifs, 
are the most desirable and handsome. 
That is entirely a matter of opinion or 
taste, however, and those who like 
variegated flowers can enjoy them. 
Several varieties may be had according 
to name and in colours, and are rela¬ 
623 
tively -cheap even when so kept apart. 
In mixed colours they are very much 
cheaper still. 
These Irises come into bloom just be¬ 
fore the Roses, and are highly appre¬ 
ciated by a large section of the com¬ 
munity; not only are they grown in 
private gardens, but extensively so fbr 
market purposes. Besides the ordinary 
method of cultivation in beds and bor¬ 
ders, in masses and clumps, they may 
also be grown in pots or planted out in 
beds or benches close to the glass in a 
greenhouse, and thereby hurried into 
bloom much earlier than those out of 
doors. While it is desirable to get 
flowers earlier than usual, readers may 
remember that the texture is much 
finer and the flowers more durable when 
grown under ordinary conditions in the 
open border. 
Light, rich soils should be selected 
for preference, t ut any ordinary gar¬ 
den soil if well tilled will grow these 
hardy bulbs to perfection. The stems 
being stout, they are self - supporting, 
and 'the very smallest amount of care 
and trouble is necessary to have a fine 
display with them. Each stem produces 
one or two flowers, and the accompany¬ 
ing illustration shows a stem with two 
of its characteristic flowers. The block 
has been placed at our disposal by 
Messrs. Dicksons, The Nurseries, 
Chester. 
R.H.S. 
The Royal Horticultural Society will 
hold their next Exhibition of Flowers and 
Fruit on September agth, from 1 to 6 
o'cl'ock p.m. At 3 o’clock a lecture will 
be delivered by Mr. T. H. Mawson. lion. 
A.R.I.B.A., on “The Practice of Garden 
Making.” 
H. Hemsley, F.R.H.S. 
We understand that Mr. Henry Hems¬ 
ley, F.R.H.S., rock and herbaceous ex¬ 
pert, who for many years was with Messrs. 
R. Yeitch and Sons, Messrs. J. Peed and 
Sons, and latterly with Messrs. J. Cheal 
and Sons, intends to start business on his 
own account at Crawley, Sussex, as 
nurseryman, seed and bulb merchant, 
and landscape gardener, &c. Mr. Hems¬ 
ley is author of “Rock and Alpine 
Gardening,” a book which has met with a 
flattering reception from the Press, and 
is enjoying a large sale. We wish Mr. 
Hemsley every success in his new venture. 
Roses and Mildew'. 
In the case of mildew', infection is due, 
says Mr. G. Massee, F.L.S., to the winter 
spores that are produced on patches of 
white cottony mildew grov'ing on the 
young shoots. The special cleanliness in 
this instance consists in carefully remov¬ 
ing (in w'inter) every trace of white felted 
mildew from the shoots and stem. In the 
case of rust and black spot, the winter 
spores, or those spores that start the 
disease the following season, are pro¬ 
duced on the leaves. Those infected 
leaves mostly fall to the ground in due 
course, and many such are blov'n into 
nooks and crannies, where they remain 
until the following spring, when the win¬ 
ter spores they bear produce other still 
smaller spores, which are dispersed by 
wind, etc., and renew the disease. The 
remed'’ consists in collecting and burn¬ 
ing all fallen leaves, also those that re¬ 
main on infected bushes. 
