138 THE FLORIST. 



Those which follow are very double varieties, and ought 

 to be in every collection : 



Rubra plena, bright red, and free bloomer. 



Glory of Sunninghill (Standish's), rosy pink ; free bloomer. 



As regards treatment, procure good healthy plants, and 

 shift them into some rich brown turfy peat -mould (which 

 must be well exposed to the air at least six months before 

 using it); to that add one-sixth silver -sand, taking care to 

 drain the pots well with broken crocks or bricks. The sorts 

 marked thus * in the foregoing list are liable to die off 

 without any apparent cause, and should be worked plants on 

 the Phoenicea stock if possible, as that is the most hardy ; 

 and to the mould for these may be added a small quantity of 

 turfy loam ; give them a good watering, and place them in a 

 warm part of a greenhouse or pit (this ought to be in April 

 or beginning of May). Some of the kinds will soon shoot 

 vigorously, and will require once stopping, which will cause 

 them to break out more bushy, and form handsomer plants. 

 Syringe them with soft water when you shut up in the even- 

 ing ; they may remain here for the summer ; they should be 

 watered occasionally with manure-water, and at all other 

 times with soft water. Many gardeners place their Azaleas 

 out of doors against a north wall, or under trees, about the 

 end of July or August ; but this practice causes the foliage 

 to become brown, and it seldom recovers until the following 

 spring : give plenty of air from this time, water more spar- 

 ingly, and some of the free-flowering kinds will begin to set 

 their bloom. Keep them in the coolest part of the greenhouse 

 for the winter ; and as soon as the young shoots appear, and 

 the flowers begin to colour, they may again be shifted (but 

 they ought not to flower the first season, if you intend making 

 specimens of them). Those that grew freely last year will now 

 require a good-sized pot ; prepare the mould the same as be- 

 fore, and mix with it a good quantity of crocks, broken fine 

 (many use charcoal) ; this will assist the drainage very much. 

 As soon as they have done flowering, the seed-pods should 

 be all removed, and they may again be placed in the warmest 

 part of the greenhouse; give them a syringing with soft water, 

 and shut up the house every evening about six o'clock for the 

 next two months; after this admit air more freely night 

 and day ; water more sparingly ; the wood will soon begin to 

 get firm, and the bloom to set. Introduce a few of the earliest 

 kinds into the stove, to forward them; and the others may re- 

 main in the greenhouse or conservatory, just kept from frost, 

 and by the next blooming season you will have some neat 



