180 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



[ Fehrnaiy 27, 1873. 



if it could be grown in this country in large quantities its 

 cultivation should prove remunerative. This shrub is well 

 adapted for fox and game covers ; the thinnings could be sold 

 annually for charcoal at from £10 to £12 per ton. It wiU not 

 thrive in a stiff soU. The Great Eastern Railway Company 

 have tried to cultivate it on the margins or slopes of their line, 

 but without success. I hope, however, that your readers may 

 liaye better fortune should they determine to try it. — J. C. H. 



CHOICE GREENHOUSE EHODODENDBONS. 

 No. 1. 



Who grows them ? Who knows them ? Who cares for 

 them? To all these questions I fear the answer must be, 

 Yery few, either gardeners or amateurs, care much for them ; 

 by this I mean comparatively few, for I think I may say, 

 without fear of contradiction, that, taking the number of plant- 

 growers into consideration, those who cultivate the greenhouse 

 Rhododendrons are few ; still, I am persuaded this apathy 

 arises more from a want of knowledge respecting them than 

 from a disregard of their beauties. It has, therefore, occui'red 

 to me that the present time is very opportune to say a few 

 words on the subject, with the view of promoting the culture 

 of these really grand and beautiful plants, and of enlisting 

 the attention of amateurs especially. 



Very few species were known until they were discovered by 

 the present Director of Kew, Dr. J. D. Hooker, in his cele- 

 brated explorations of the mountains of Sikkim *Simalaya 

 During that arduous journey he met with upwards of forty 

 species of Rhododendrons. I cannot say the exact number, 

 speaking from memory, but thirty of these, I believe, were 

 new to science. Upon his return to this country Dr. Hooker 

 brought with him not only sufficient specimens for the use of 

 the scientific botanist, but also an abundance of living seeds; 

 indeed, the very abundance, combined with the fact that few 

 amateurs knew anything of them, was, in my opinion, one of 

 the great causes of their neglect from the first. People 

 reasoned that if they were any good they would not have been 

 so plentiful, and so when they might have been procured at a 

 small rate by anyone, no one bought them ; some, however, 

 who heard of their charms were induced to grow them until 

 they flowered, and those persons were well rewarded for their 

 trouble. 



After Dr. Hooker's journey in Sikkim, the mountains of 

 Bhootan were explored by Mr. Booth, who added several fresh 

 species to their number. These have been augmented by 

 collectors from various other parts of India, and together with 

 the hybrids obtained from them at home, afford ample scope for 

 the taste of the amateur, whether as regards colour of flowers 

 or habit of growth. The majority of these plants require but 

 trifling protection ; indeed, if properly planted and protected 

 by adjacent shrubs, there is no doubt many of them would 

 form handsome specimens in the open air in various parts of 

 the country. I am aware this has been advocated and tried 

 before the present time, but I do not think all has been done 

 by planters which tlie importance of the subject demands; 

 One of their great faults for open-air culture is that the 

 Sikkim kinds begin to grow so very early that the young and 

 tender shoots get killed by our late spring frosts ; but it is 

 a moot case, if protectmg their buds through autumn and 

 ■winter from the sun's influence for two or three years would 

 not acclimatise them somewhat, and cause them to start into 

 growth later in the season. Should this attention, however, 

 not have so much effect, it would certainly retard them con- 

 siderably. A few years ago I saw several collections planted 

 in the open air, and I should be glad to hear how they may be 

 succeeding. We are told that " the species of this genus are 

 most numerous, and the flowers attain their greatest size and 

 brilliancy of colouring on the high mountains of East Nepal 

 and the Sikkim Himalaya, at an elevation of from 10,000 to 

 14,000 feet. The forests in those regions reach an altitude of 

 about 12,000 feet, and above these the Rhododendrons com- 

 prise fully three-fourths of the vegetation, where they not 

 only display their beauties to the greatest advantage, but 

 supply the aborigines with wood for the manufacture of nu- 

 merous domestic utensils." The mountains of the Malayan 

 Archipelago and British Burmah have also yielded-up several 

 beautiful species to our home collections ; but these have not 

 proved so hardy as the kinds introduced from either Bhootan 

 or Sikkim, but, nevertheless, they are magnificent additions to 

 our greenhouses and conservatories. In addition to the intro- 

 duced species, several lovers of th«se plants have devoted 



themselves to the hybridisation and cross-breeding of the 

 various kinds, and have thus brought into existence a number 

 of kinds which your amateur readers would find invaluable 

 for conservatory or greenhouse decoration if they would only 

 make themselves acquainted with them ; indeed, several of 

 the hybrids will bloom twice in the season if properly cared 

 for, and that, too, while the plants are quite young. 



Rhododendrons thrive best in good, rough, fibrous, sandy 

 peat, and the drainage should be ample, and kept in good 

 working order. The hardy kinds, when planted in the open 

 air, will succeed well in a mixture of peat and Ught loam if 

 the drainage is good; indeed, they will even grow without the 

 peat, but I think not so well as with a little of it, although I 

 would not by any means associate myself with those who 

 assert that Rhododendrons must have peat, because I have- 

 seen so many proofs to the contrary ; yet for pot culture, oi" 

 when planted in the border of a conservatory, I should cer- 

 tainly prefer good fibrous peat, with just a small quantity of 

 sandy loam. It must also be borne in mind that, although 

 Rhododendrons like peat soO, they are not bog plants, and 

 that to ensure their well-being the drainage must be good and. 

 free from obstructions. These plants may be reckoned amongst 

 the best and most ornamental of permanent conservatory 

 plants, and when grown with Camellias they serve to prolong, 

 the gay season, as they usually come into bloom just after 

 the last-named plants have cast their flowers. The large- 

 growing kinds should be planted in tho beds or borders of the 

 conservatory or greenhouse, whilst the smaller-growing kinds 

 will be found superb ornaments for the side or front stages. 

 They are very easily grown, last a long time in full beauty, 

 and most of them are to be procured at a reasonable price. 



Having now made out my case in their favour, I purpose 

 briefly enumerating some of the best both of the introduced 

 species and the hybrid kinds produced in our own gardens,, 

 any of which will be found well deserving the attention of 

 oven those with very limited space ; whilst those who can find 

 room to grow them all wOl have quite a galaxy of beauty, and 

 that, too, of a recherche character. 



R. HooKERii. — I place this at the head of the list because 

 the name of that indefatigable traveller and collector. Dr. 

 Hooker, always seems to me so inseparable from these plants, 

 although this species was none of his finding. It was dis- 

 covered by Mr. Booth in the mountains of Bhootan, growing 

 at from 8 to 9000 feet altitude, in company with Finns excelsa, 

 and during the winter mouths, wliich correspond with our own, 

 the frost and snow are both severe and lasting. Piuus excelsa 

 is hardy with us, and there is no reason why the plant now 

 under consideration should not prove equally tractable. 

 Naturally, it grows upwards of 12 feet in height, but it flowers 

 when quite young. The leaves are about 4 inches long, and 

 upwards of an inch broad, oblong in shape, thick and coria- 

 ceous in texture, dark green on the upper side, but glaucous 

 below. The flowers are large, numerous, and in colour rich 

 crimson. It blooms in April and May. 



R. Edgwoethii. — This is a fine, free-flowering, and com- 

 paratively small-growing species. In its native country it. 

 grows upon or in the forks of forest trees, as well as upon the 

 ground or in the crevices of rocks. The leaves are upwards 

 of 3 inches long, somewhat ovate-lanceolate in shape, tapering, 

 to a slender point, deep heavy green on the upper side, whilst 

 every other part of the plant is densely clothed with a bright 

 ferruginous down. The flowers are large, deliciously sweet, 

 pure white, delicately tinged with rose. It blooms early in May, 

 and is tolerably hardy. Native of Sikkim at some 9000 feet 

 elevation. 



B. Veitchianum. — A very fine species, but scarcely so hardy 

 as the preceding. It forms a medium-sized branching shrub, 

 the leaves being coriaceous in texture, obovate, acute, upwards 

 of .3 inches long, smooth, dark green on the upper side but 

 glaucous below. The flowers are snow white, with a delicately 

 crisp margin ; they are upwards of 4 inches across, and pro- 

 duced in great profusion at the end of April and in May. 

 Native of Moulmein. 



R. Veitchianum LiEvroATUM. — This is a variety of the pre- 

 viously named plant, and a native of the same country. It 

 differs from the species only in having plain instead of crisp 

 margins to the petals of the corolla. Both forms are very 

 desirable. 



R. Brookeanum. — In this plant we have a lovely ornament. 

 The foliage is large, measuring 6 or 8 inches in length, cori- 

 aceous in texture, oblong-lanceolate in shape, and dark green 

 on the upper side, but paler below. The flowers are large. 



