i88i.] GREENHOUSE PLANTS— THE AZALEA. 9 



perpetrated the deed they had long meditated — viz., ate off the leaves 

 of the Roses, and found them good to the taste, and themselves no 

 doubt wiser, like our first parents. In the morning the Roses were 

 gone, but the 2-feet stems left. Our presence was summoned. What 

 was to be done ] Why, shoot the donkeys, and plant Roses on their 

 own roots, was the advice of The Squire's Gardener. 



[We thoroughly agree with every word here said of standard and dwarf 

 grafted RoSes. They are ugly and most expensive, and serve no good pur- 

 pose, unless it be to produce a few extra-sized blooms for competition. — Ed.] 



GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



No. I. — The Azalea. 



The varieties of this genus in cultivation at the present time are 

 somewhat numerous, and all gardeners are acquainted with a greater or 

 less number of them. The brilliancy and peculiar freshness exhibited 

 by their flowers, combined with the profuse manner in which they are 

 produced on healthy plants, are qualities that place Azaleas in the 

 front rank of flowering plants, and no other class of greenhouse plants 

 can successfully compete with them in the matter of producing a 

 brilliant and striking floral display from January to June. Then the 

 great diversity and purity of colour exhibited in the flowers of differ- 

 ent varieties, are points in which Azaleas excel. The flowers of some 

 varieties are pure white, those of others, various shades of pink or 

 rose colour ; some have crimson, and others orange-scarlet coloured 

 flowers ; and again, there are varieties that have striped flowers 

 of various shades, — so that in the matter of colour they supply 

 a wide field to choose from. Then there is a difference in the 

 shape or formation of the flowers produced by different varieties. 

 Some have double or semi-double flowers, others have single flowers. 

 Some varieties have the petals of the flowers crisped or frilled, and 

 others have plain or smooth-petalled flowers ; then there are kinds that 

 have the petals reflexed, and others that have flowers more or less cup- 

 shaped. Thus, in the colour and formation of the flowers, they 

 present an amount of varied and interesting beauty that is equalled 

 by few other classes of greenhouse plants, and not surpassed by any. 

 Other recommendatory qualities possessed by Azaleas are that, as a 

 rule, they are of a compact habit of growth, and, when properly treated, 

 never fail to produce an annual crop of flowers in great abundance 

 from the time they are 6 inches high by 6 inches through, until they 

 reach as many feet high by the same through. Their free-flowering 

 habit while the plants are small renders them very appropriate' and 

 useful subjects for taking part in floral decorations in the dwelling- 

 house, where such are in request. As subjects for cutting from, 

 they are extremely useful, their flowers being adapted both for 



