148 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



Atlantic seaboard of the L'nited States. Five of these, 

 yir. Wilson notes, are "all good garden plants which 

 take kindl}- to cultivation and thrive in ordinary soil, in 

 either open or shady situations, and no group of plants 

 adapted to our climate surpasses them in beauty. The 

 first to open their flowers are R. canescens and K. iiiidi- 

 florum. Both have fragrant pale rose or pink flowers, 

 of various shades, which appear before the leaves or just 

 as they begin to unfold. The ne.xt to blossom is R. calen- 

 dulaccuin, the yellow azalea of the Appalachian mountain 

 slopes, which opens its flowers early in June. The color 

 varies from bright yellow to orange or shades of red and 

 the beauty is heightened by contrast with the dark green 

 leaves which are well grown before the flowers open. 

 It is a rather slow growing but long lived plant, from 

 eight to ten feet tall, and the beauty of its brilliant colored 

 flowers is not surpassed by those of any other azalea. 

 The yellow azalea is followed by R. arborcsccns, another 

 inhabitant of the glades of the Appalachian mountains 

 from Pennsylvania to Georgia, which blooms about mid- 

 June. This is a tall shrub, growing from ten to fifteen 

 feet high, with large pure white, very fragrant flowers, 

 the beauty of which is increased by the bright scarlet 

 color of the long exserted stamen-filaments and styles. 

 The leaves are pale-colored and are full-grown before 

 the flowers open. The last to flower is R. viscosuni, the 

 Clammy azalea or Swamp Honeysuckle, a common in- 

 habitant of the swamps near the .\tlantic seaboard, which 

 does not open its flowers till July. It is a shrub of medium 

 size, with small, very fragrant, pure white blossoms cov- 

 ered with sticky hairs and the leaves are often pale bluish 

 especially on the lower surface. The plant is valuable 

 for the lateness of its flowers, which continued to oj^en 

 for weeks when those of most shrubs are past." The 

 Arboretum bulletin of May 9, 1921, adds roscnm. "an 

 even handsomer plant than I'aseyi. Although first dis- 

 tinguished and named in France as early as 1912. it has 

 always been confused with other species till quite recent 

 years, and has never received the attention which it de- 

 serves. It is a shrub from three to fifteen feet tall with 

 rose-colored flowers which open after the leaves begin to 

 unfold and are more fragrant even than those of vMcosum. 

 This azalea is common in southern New England and 

 southward to \'irginia ; it grows in western New York, 

 northeastern Ohio, southeastern Illinois and the adjacent 

 part of Missouri, that is in regions of limestone soil, and 

 the fact that it can grow in lime makes it possible to cul- 

 tivate it in parts of the country where other rhododen- 

 drons do not grow." A still later bulletin adds anndiescc, 

 probably a chance hybrid of arborescens and calen- 

 dula^cnm, more fragrant than the latter, of orange-red 

 and clear yellow and valuable because it flowers later. 



One east .Vsiatic species, japonicuiii, is perfectly 

 hardy and its large flame-colored flowers are very hand- 

 some. It and R. schlippcnbachii, pronounced by the I'-ng- 

 ]ish writer referred to before as "peerless," broad in 

 limb, pale clear pink and delicately spotted with green, 

 are included among the eighteen best new shrubs at the 

 Arnold Arboretum by the bulletin of July 15, 1920. 

 Japomcurn mated with R. sinensc at the Hunnewell es- 

 tate has become the parent of R. kosterianum I\liss 

 Louisa Hunnewell, of which the following judgment has 

 been made at the Arnold Arboretum: "If anyone in the 

 United States has raised a handsomer shrub it is un- 

 known to the Arboretum. Its large clusters of orange- 

 colored flowers open as the leaves unfold." .Xnother, 

 luteum, incorrectly sometimes named flainim but com- 

 monly known as Azalea pontica, is not hardy in the east- 

 ern part of the United States. It is imjiortant because 

 it has been used so much as a stock for grafting and in 

 hybridizing. 



The American species. Mr. Wilson thinks, should be 

 used much more generally in the gardens of eastern North 

 .Vnierica: but it is ditificult to procure them because very 

 few nurserymen are willing to devote the time and the 

 trouble necessary to raise them from seed, the only satis- 

 factory way to propagate them. 



In the. absence of these plants and in ignorance of their 

 value and beauty have been employed the so-called Ghent 

 azaleas, a race of enchanting hybrids, but short-lived, in- 

 difterently hardy and not suited to the climate of New 

 England, good for forcing purposes but not for the 

 garden in the colder parts of the country. They are the 

 hybrids of pontica, which bears bright yellow and fra- 

 grant flowers, and nndifiora, z-iscosa and calcndiilacca 

 introduced from the United States into England and 

 grown in large numbers at Ghent, Belgium. A some- 

 what hardier oflfspring resulted from crossing R. sinense 

 and R. japonicuin with the various Ghent azaleas. These 

 mollis azaleas, not hardier in New England than the 

 Cjhents, can be grown in the vicinity of Philadelphia out 

 of doors very well if they are given a little shelter. They 

 are grown in dwelling houses in the winter and are very 

 beautiful. 



-V third section of the azaleoids consists of the Japanese 

 and the Korean. The most important is the scarlet- 

 flowered Kccmpfcri, introduced by Professor Sargent in 

 1892 and, according to Mr. Wilson, one of the most 

 valuable shrubs that the gardens of eastern North Amer- 

 ica have received from Japan. Like all the other 

 azaleas mentioned before it is deciduous. It grows to a 

 height of three to eight feet and is a blaze of color for 

 one or two weeks in May, brightest in partial shade. It 

 deserves a good place sheltered by trees, but not too near 

 them, with favorable soil. An offspring from it and 

 aiiia-iiHin, raised by Jackson Dawson, is called Arnol- 

 diaiia. Its flowers vary in color. Being a dwarf it is 

 good for the edges of beds and for. rock gardens. A 

 large Japanese species is R. rhombicum, which bears 

 rich red-purple blooms. The Korean poukhanciise is a 

 very compact round-headed shrub, the rosy mauve or red- 

 violet blossoins of which are delightfully fragrant. 



Of Japanese azaleas the Kurume varieties, from the 

 highlands of that Island Empire, have recently been at- 

 tracting much attention that is richly deserved by their 

 wonderful beauty and diversity of coloring. The Arnold 

 Arboretum has exhibited remarkable specimens at the 

 shows in Boston ; but it is still too early to declare that 

 any of them are for our gardens. Near Philadelphia Mr. 

 A. E. Wohlert, of Narberth, who has paid much atten- 

 tion to the newer Japanese flowering trees and shrubs, 

 has this past Winter been trying out of doors several 

 thousand dollars worth of these handsome shrulis. .'\t 

 the middle of March his report was that the great major- 

 ity were not promising well.* 



Of evergreen azaleas the aiiuviia or indica. which 

 flowers early, with bright rosy-purple blossoms, is hardy 

 as far north as New York City. The finest form of it is 

 known as hinode<;iri, of beautifully symmetrical shape 

 and which bears its bright scarlet blooms in great pro- 

 fusion. Ilinaiiiayo. resembling it in form, has larger 

 leaves and its flowers are of a wonderfully clear shade of 

 pink. It is almost evergreen. 



Arrangemicnt According to Color 

 .•\s with tulips and peonies there is not nuich chance 



• Since lliis was writlcii lllc frcczinK during the ni^lit of .Vpi il twenty- 

 first lias blasted ttiosc fluwer luuls that were fairly well advanced and 

 killed liack the leafy tips; lint, though the plants had been prcitccted only 

 by a slight natural growth of weeds, the bark of the stems has not been 

 cracked nor tlie plants injured in any other way. In frames and 

 glass they are now rapidly recovering and will continue to bloom. 



cracked nor the plants injured in any other way. In frames and under 

 ;)idly recovering and will continue to bloom. The 

 damage to the plants would have been less if they h,td been well sprinkled. 



early in the morning after the frost, with cold water. 



