JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Auaust  9,  1900. 
J3C 
Deodromecon  rigidaiq. 
This  is  a  Californian  plant,  a  native  of  the  dry  rocky  coast  ranges 
■from  San  Diego  to  Clear  Lake,  and  found  most  abundantly  south  of 
Point  Conception,  and  on  Santa  Rosa  Island.  The  flowers  are  yellow, 
with  all  the  characters  and  intensity  of  colour  of  a  true  Poppy.  They 
are  terminal  on  the  numerous  twiggy  branches  produced  by  the 
straw-coloured  older  wood.  It  grows  from  about  3  to  8  feet  in  height 
with  leaves  of  a  bluish  colour  from  2  to  4  inches  long.  The  two  very 
■concave  sepals,  like  most  members  of  the  order,  fall  off  very  early 
after  the  opening  of  the  flower,  which  spreads  widely  in  the  early  hours 
of  the  day,  but  assume  a  more  cup-like  form  after  noon.  The  two  forms 
are  given  in  our  engraving  (fig.  38).  The  plant  is  perfectly  hardy  in 
England,  but  somewhat  diflicult  to  grow.  Discovered  in  California  by 
Mr.  David  Douglas,  it  was  first  grown  from  seed  sent  by  Mr.  W.  Lobb 
to  Messrs.  Veitch  &  Sons.  It  is  somewhat  variable  in  the  character 
of  its  leaves,  and  undoubtedly  a  handsome  plant  when  well  grown,  a 
valuable  feature  being  the  length  of  time  during  which  flowers  are 
tproduced. 
Dunardagh,  co.  Dablin. 
Possessing  features  peculiarly  its  own,  Dunardagh,  the  seat  of 
George  Orr  Wilson,  Esq.,  stands  prominent  among  the  pretty  places 
situated  on  the  picturesque  side  of  Dublin  city.  True  it  is  that 
Dunardagh  is,  in  a  measure,  cut  off  from  the  vista  of  our  beautiful 
bay,  to  which  it  lays  in  proximity,  yet  Nature  has  not  only  been 
generous  to  it  in  a  background  of  surpassing  beauty  provided  by  the 
Dublin  mountains  in  the  near  distance,  but  has  given  to  this  charming 
demesne  its  primary  feature  in  some  of  those  grand  old  granite  boulders 
which  form  the  backbone  of  the  mountain  range.  With  such  a  fine 
piece  of  natural  rockwork  in  the  pleasure  grounds  it  is  not  a  matter  for 
surprise  that  Mrs.  Wilson’s  artistic  tastes,  and  the  indefatigable  hand 
of  Mr.  Haidy,  the  head  gardener,  have  found  scope  for  picturesque 
planting  with  some  little  curtailment  or  direction  of  Nature’s  wild  ways. 
In  planting,  du.e  regard  has  been  given  to  the  merits  of  the  graceful 
Bamboos,  and  as  one  winds  up  by  a  natural  stair  to  the  summit  of  the 
rock,  cosy  nooks  display  them  to  advantage.  The  conversion  of  this 
rock  into  a  thing  of  beauty  has  been  the  work  of  years,  yet  opportunities 
are  not  wanting  for  its  further  embellishment  by  planting  as  time  and 
season  permit. 
Another  feature  of  'Dunardagh,  although  an  artificial  one,  consists 
of  its  asphalted  walks,  which  run  here,  there,  and  everywhere  save  in 
the  vegetable  garden.  A  spacious  conservatory  and  range  of  vineries 
are  in  proximity  to  the  mansion,  the  south  and  west  fronts  of  the 
building  being  set  off  by  a  good  expanse  of  lawn,  brightened  by  flower 
beds,  and  bounded  on  the  eastern  side  by  a  series  of  herbaceous  borders. 
At  the  time  of  our  visit  a  grand  display  of  Daffodils  was  seen,  among 
which  S'  me  of  the  finer  kinds  in  quantity  were  conspicuous.  Sir 
Watkin  being  in  particularly  fine  form.  The  principal  plant  houses, 
in  the  garden  proper,  contain  much  that  is  choice,  and  all  that  show 
high  cultivation.  Bucharis  were  in  fine  form,  the  mass  of  luxuriant, 
deep  toned  foliage  bearing  witness  to  the  entire  absence  of  that  iete 
noire  of  the  Eucharis  grower — the  mite.  Mr.  Hardy  seems,  indeed, 
sceptical  of  the  powers,  if  not  of  the  very  existence  of  this  vile 
beastie.”  May  he  long  continue  in  happy  ignorance  of  it!  A 
remarkable  plant  of  Nepenthes  Mastersiana  covered  part  of  the  roof  of 
a  plant  stove,  being  trained  on  wires  overhead.  In  this  garden  fruit 
trees  are  prominent,  Apples  and  Pears  receiving  from  Mr.  Hardy  more 
attention  than  generally  obtains  in  the  locality  to  counteract  climatic 
influences,  and  he  is  well  repaid  with  fine  fruit,  not  surpassed,  if 
equalled,  by  any  grown  in  this  part  of  the  county. 
Particular  attention  is  also  given  to  vegetables  in  a'  garden  devoted 
to  their  culture,  and  here  was  to  be  seen  a  good  breadth  of  an  especial 
Potato,  selected  by  Mr.  H^rdy  some  years  since  as  the  fittest  for  all 
purposes  required  of  a  kidney,  being  early,  short  topped,  of  high 
quality,  and  ultra  prolific.  Prom  its  excellence  and  distinctiveness  it 
may  well  be  christened  “  The  Dunardagh.” 
In  a  long  greenhouse  a  well  grown  and  representative  collection  of 
Chrysanthemums  is  annually  staged,  and  displayed  at  night  by  the 
electric  light.  Mr.  Hardy  is  an  expert  electrician,  and  although  one 
may  as  a  gardener  meet  him  on  his  own  ground,  here,  in  the  complex 
arrangements  and  sundry  d^ivices  peculiar  to  the  Dunardagh  installation, 
which  the  joung  gentlemen  of  the  family  have  perfected  to  the  end  of 
making  it  the  most  perfect  thing  of  its  kind  in  Ireland,  one  gets 
bewildered.  Yet  it  is  all  so  simple,  our  friend  says,  as  he  puts  the 
ponderous  wheel  of  a  powerful  gas  engine  in  motion,  pushes  round 
sundry  switches,  and  points  to  delicate  mechanisms  now  in  activity, 
some  of  which  have  been  made  by  his  own  hand.  It  is  highly 
interesting,  but  from  the  heights  of  enthusiasm  our  friend  fires  off  a 
battery  of  technical  terms,  under  which  a  retreat  is  made  by — K.,  Dublin. 
Zonal  Pelargoniunis. 
No  time  should  now  be  lost  in  cutting  back  Zonal  Pelargoniums 
that  have  flowered  early,  so  as  to  get  fresh  shoots  for  blooming  next 
season.  It  is  not  good  management  to  allow  any  pot  “  Geraniums  ” 
to  flower  too  long — for  not  more  than  six  weeks,  or  two  months  at 
the  farthest ;  neither  is  it  desirable  that  the  young  wood  which  will 
arise  after  cutting  down  should  be  longer  than  a  few  inches  by  the  end 
of  the  autumn  ;  therefore,  where  a  succession  of  flowers  is  maintained 
with  a  few  plants,  all  the  success  hinges  on  the  proper  management 
of  these  plants.  The  bushier  they  are  kept  the  longer  they  will  live, 
and  the  better  they  flower.  Amateurs  often  make  them  grow  so  fast, 
and  they  have  such  a  knack  of  training  out  the  branches,  that  a  two- 
year-old  plant  would  seem  as  if  it  were  three  times  that  age ;  but, 
with  the  ordinary  culture,  it  takes  at  least  five  years  to  make  such 
plants  of  them.  Therefore,  unless  they  are  cut  very  low  each  time, 
they  cannot  come  to  a  respectable  age  without  becoming  bare. 
The  great  mistake  in  the  management  of  window  “  Geraniums  ”  is 
that  they  are  so  seldom  trained  when  they  are  young,  or  after  they  are 
cut  down.  Whatever  shoots  they  make  are  allowed  to  grow  straight 
upwards,  and  then  the  strongest  rob  the  others  of  their  proper  share 
of  the  ascending  sap,  which  makes  them  still  more  vigorous,  while  at 
the  same  time  the  weaker  ones  suffer  in  proportion.  Thus  their  natural 
condition  in  the  wilderness  is  exemplified  under  a  strictly  artificial 
system. 
Pruning  and  Training. 
Young  “  Geraniums”  that  have  been  bought  this  season  are  sure  to 
be  right  enough  at  the  bottom,  and  all  that  they  require  is  to  be  cut 
down  to  three  eyes  of  the  new  growth  they  made  this  season,  and  the 
third  or  last  eye  left  on  the  stump  should  be  on  the  outside  of  the  shoot, 
so  that  it  may  grow  out  laterally,  and  give  a  better  form  to  the  future 
plant.  If  this  third  eye  happeus  to  be  on  the  inside,  or  upper  part  of 
the  shoot,  pick  it  out  with  the  point  of  the  knife,  and  out  to  the  next 
eye  above  it,  which  is  sure  to  be  on  the  under  side,  or  at  least  on  one 
side  of  the  shoots.  Indeed,  although  I  say  cut  to  three  eyes,  it  is  not 
at  all  necessary  to  out  so  close  ;  there  must  be  only  three  eyes  left,  but 
these  three  eyes  need  not  be  the  very  lowest  ones  on  the  shoot.  The 
three  lowest  eyes  that  are  best  placed  on  the  shoot  are  to  be  preferred 
— say  one  on  each  side  of  the  shoot,  and  the  last  underneath  it. 
For  older  plants  that  have  been  thus  treated  in  former  years  one 
need  not  be  so  particular,  because  if  the  foundation  is  already  well  laid 
you  can  hardly  build  wrongly  upon  it,  provided  you  do  not  allow  strong 
eyes  to  grow  from  the  upper  side  of  a  branch  close  to  its  bottom.  All 
upright  shoots  in  the  centre  of  a  “  Geranium”  are  better  avoided,  aud 
it  is  easier  to  cut  out  the  eye  at  first  than  to  train  down  the  shoot 
from  it  afterwards.  When  weak  shoots  occur  they  must  be  cut  to  the 
best  placed  eye,  and  only  that  ooe  left  to  grow.  Nothing  looks  so  ugly 
as  to  have  long  brown  shoots  on  an  old  “  Geranium.”  The  older  the 
plant  is  the  better  clothed  it  should  appear  at  the  bottom  ;  but  that 
can  hardly  be  obtained  if  the  shoots  are  allowed  to  spring  up  directly 
from  the  bottom.  All  the  main  shoots,  while  they  are  young,  ought  to 
be  trained  a  little  sideways. 
Treatment  of  Skeletons. 
But  what  is  to  be  done  with  those  deplorable  skeletons  that  have 
not  a  leaf  or  a  trace  of  a  bud  within  12  or  18  inches  of  the  pot,  and 
their  tops  so  tall  as  to  darken  the  window  lights  ?  Half  the  world 
would  say.  Throw  them  on  the  rubbish  heap  and  buy  new  ones — very 
good  advice  if  they  would  follow  it  up  by  handing  over  the  where¬ 
withal  to  buy  them. 
They  have  an  old  saying  in  the  Highlands  that  a  man  is  not  worthy 
of  a  new  pair  of  shoes  until  he  learns  how  to  mend  his  old  ones;  and 
we  may  apply  the  adage  on  this  side  of  the  border  by  saying  that  he 
who  cannot  prune  his  old  “  Geraniums  ”  properly  should  never  be 
indulged  with  young  ones.  Therefore,  we  must  prune  down  those  long¬ 
stemmed  plants,  even  if  we  lose  them  in  the  attempt ;  and  if  we  should 
kill  them,  we  may  as  well  do  so  at  3  or  4  inches  from  the  pot  as  10. 
Let  that  be  the  mark,  therefore;  choose  a  smooth  part  between  two 
joints,  and  off  with  the  top  at  one  out. 
“  A.h  !  ”  someone  says,  “  here  is  a  pretty  dilemma  we  have  just  got 
into!  Why,  that  plant  will  bleed  itself  to  death;  we  forgot  to  let  it 
get  quite  dry  before  cutting  it!”  Put  the  stump  of  a  plant  into  a 
warm  place,  and  if  it  gets  over  the  double  misfortune — I  mean  the 
bleeding  and  the  long  stems— it  will  do  so  the  sooner  by  being  kept  in 
the  warm  place.  Give  it  no  water  till  this  wound  is  quite  dried  over ; 
after  that  give  it  a  plentiful  supply,  and  if  you  sprinkle  a  little  water 
over  it  now  and  then  it  will  not  fail  to  make  a  good  plant  yet,  if  the 
roots  are  quite  healthy. — G. 
