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11 () irr I (' u I. 



June 5. I!i20 



ixAMbLING OBSERVATIONS OF « 

 A ROVING GARDENER 



L 



It has been (juito surprising to note 

 the large number of exceedingly com- 

 mondatory articles which have ap- 

 peared in various publications about 

 the Rose Annual for 192i). I do not 

 mean to show any surprise on the 

 ground that the book is not worthy of 

 so much notice, but because as a mat- 

 ter of fact it is an uncommon thing 

 for so many publications to give so 

 much space to any book of this nature. 

 When the Country Gentleman, for ex- 

 ample, will publish a coui)le of columns 

 about the Annual, it must indeed be 

 considered as something quite out of 

 the ordinary. Altogether the Ameri- 

 can Rose Society has come to be the 

 leading organization of growers and 

 .enthusiastis in the country, and has 

 set a lively pace for the Iris Society, 

 the Peony Society, the Dahlia Society, 

 the Gladiolus Society and the newly 



formed Orchid Society. The members' 

 handbook has just gone out from head- 

 quarters and includes a list of the 

 members as w-ell as other important 

 matter. It is interesting to note that 

 the membership list shows that in a 

 gen,s;raphic relation the society is rep- 

 resented in 4.5 states and 15 foreign 

 countries. The handbook also an- 

 nounces a committee of consulting and 

 advising rosarians to members of 

 which inquiries may be addressed from 

 time to time by members of the so- 

 ciety. 



I have been interested to read a note 

 in the Gardener's Chronicle of London 

 about a new plant which was sent to 

 Kew Gardens from this continent. It 

 seems that this plant was also sent to 

 the Arnold Arboretum some years ago 

 and has bloomed well this season. The 



originator of the new plant, which has 

 been called Rhododendron Fraseri, is 

 Mr. G. Fraser, a nurseryman of Welu- 

 chet, Can. Mr. Fraser describes it as a 

 hybrid between Rhodora canadensis 

 and Azalea mollis. The idant seems 

 to have made a good impression at 

 Kew. Unless I am mistaken it is the 

 first hybrid with the little early flower- 

 ing Rhodora that has yet been report- 

 ed. It seems as though the hybrid 

 might have some value as a forcing 

 pUint. judging from its parentage. The 

 description as obtained from across 

 the water is as follows: 



The plant has rather wiry, twiggy 

 growth, smooth bark, and Is deciduous. 

 The new leaves, which come with the 

 flowers, are about an inch long, ovate. 

 short petioled. hairy on both sides, and 

 borne on shoots about three inches 

 long. The flowers develop in tenninal 

 umbels, three to six in each, and have 

 hairy green pedicels an inch long; 

 calyx minute: petals in two series, 

 three above, two below, united at the 

 base, forming a tube Vi inch long, the 

 limb about two inches across, bright, 

 ro<^y mauve: stamens ten. short; style 



Tlif Iri> i> 11 -Most I'seful (iarden Subject 



