252 THE GARDENER. [June 



in June, whicli is at once peculiar and striking, and wliich must be 

 seen to be adequately realised. 



All the really hardy Azaleas are deciduous, and, with the exception 

 of Pontica, which was sent home from the Levant about the end of 

 last century, the few species that have formed the parents of the great 

 majority of the now almost innumerable varieties are natives of North 

 America, and though introduced into Europe at intervals between the 

 years 1734 and 1818, little was done for a long time by way of pro- 

 ducing new varieties by hybridisation — the variations being chiefly 

 sports or natural hybrids, the result of the different sorts being grown 

 together. About thirty years ago, however, some of the Continental 

 cultivators took up the matter systematically, and the brilliant varie- 

 ties known as Ghent Azaleas, a term now popularly api^lied to all the 

 hybrids, were the fruits of their labours. This work of improvement 

 has been since steadily carried on, both on the Continent and in this 

 country ; and in later years the Chinese sj)ecies Sinensis has been 

 judiciously intermixed with the hardy sorts, the result being seen in 

 the increased size, improved form, and clearer colours of the flowers 

 of the newer varieties. So far, indeed, have the original American 

 species, such as Calendulacea, viscosa, nudiflora, and speciosa, been 

 eclipsed and superseded by their progeny, that they are now almost 

 out of cultivation in their normal state. 



The Oriental species are for the most part too tender for outdoor 

 culture in Britain. Though one or two of those introduced a few years 

 ago from China have been found equal to our winters in the open air — 

 such as "obtusa," and " amoena" — they bloom and start too early 

 into growth to escape damage from spring frosts, precluding them 

 from being so extensively used as outdoor plants, and from receiving 

 that prominence to which, but for that unfortunate drawback, their 

 beauty and profuse blooming qualities so richly entitles them. Amoena 

 is one of the hardiest and most showy of the group, producing its rich 

 rosy crimson blossoms in April, and forming a neat dwarf round bush, 

 densely furnished with small dark-green leaves, rendering it, apart from 

 its flowers, a useful marginal shrub for clumps or beds of plants of 

 taller growth, and well worthy of a place in the American garden, even 

 though it should sometimes require a little attention during its flower- 

 ing season, in the way of protection at night from frost. It is worthy 

 of notice that it is a superb conservatory plant, and may be forced into 

 flowering at Christmas with great facility, and if moderately shaded, 

 remains a long time in perfection ; for this purpose they must be 

 potted early in November, and placed at once under glass, and intro- 

 duced into the forcing-house from time to time, as they are wanted in 

 flower. 



