676 RHODODENDRON. THE ENGLISH FLOW&R GARDEN. RHODODENDRON. 



guineum, blood-red and early ; Carac- 

 tacus, rich purplish-crimson, one of the 

 best for size and colour of its flowers, 

 gathered into large compact trusses, 

 with fine habit and foliage ; Charles 

 Bagley, cherry-red, a late variety of 

 fine colour, with good habit and foliage ; 

 Charles Dickens, bright scarlet flowers, 

 coming early as compact trusses ; 

 C. S. Sargent, rich crimson flowers, fine 

 habit ; Ccerulescens, pale lilac-blue or 

 blush, strong growth, and loose habit ; 

 Coriaceum, a late kind, of dwarf habit 

 and creamy- white flowers ; Delicatis- 

 simum, also late, with white flowers 

 suffused pink, fine habit, and large 

 glossy leaves ; Everestianum, one of 

 the best in its freedom of flower and 

 dense habit, flowers rosy-lilac spotted 

 with yellow, and crinkled on the 

 margins ; F. L. Ames, pale pink 

 flowers with a band of deeper rose- 

 colour, good foliage, but ungainly 

 habit ; Guido, good habit, fine trusses 

 of rich crimson ; W. H. Sargent, large 

 crimson trusses and the darkest late 

 kind, but of poor habit ; James 

 Bateman, fine habit and rich scarlet 

 flowers ; Kettledrum, a deep red, late 

 kind ; King of Purples, dark purple, 

 free, and of fine habit ; Lady Arm- 

 strong, pale rose, beautifully spotted, 

 perhaps the best pink ; Lady Grey 

 Egerton, good in foliage, habit, and 

 its immense light mauve or silvery 

 blush trusses ; Mrs C. S. Sargent, like 

 Everestianum, but with bright pink 

 flowers with a yellow blotch ; Mrs 

 Harry Ingersoll, flowers of deep rosy- 

 lilac blotched green or yellow on the 

 upper lobe ; Mrs Milner, rich crimson 

 flowers, and excellent in other ways ; 

 Old Port, distinct in its rich plum 

 colour ; Purpureum elegans, purple ; 

 Purpureum crispum, clear purple with 

 crimped petals ; Purpureum grandi- 

 florum, the best of the purples in col- 

 our, habit, and freedom, flowering 

 late ; Roseum elegans, flowers deep 

 rosy-purple, with rich, glossy foliage ; 

 Roseum grandiflorum, near the last. 

 These kinds may be planted with every 

 confidence, even where the winters 

 are long and rigorous. 



The following is an abstract from 

 The Garden of a paper by Mr W. J. 

 Bean, of the Royal Gardens at Kew, 

 on the Indian Rhododendrons in the 

 London district, and therefore of 

 interest to growers in the home coun- 

 cies, less favoured than many districts 

 for the growth of these fine shrubs : 



The altitudes at which these grow 

 range between 4,000 feet and 14,000 



feet, but it is at heights of 10,000 

 feet and upwards that the genus is 

 most abundantly represented. Above 

 12,000 feet Sir J. Hooker says that 

 three-fourths of the whole vegetation 

 consists of Rhododendrons. The mean 

 temperature at Darjeeling (in which 

 neighbourhood most of the species are 

 found) does not widely differ from that 

 of London, but the extremes of heat 

 and cold are much greater here than 

 there, and it is only a few that can be 

 said to thrive put of doors really well 

 and flower in the London district, 

 although many can remain healthy in 

 foliage when grown in well - sheltered 

 spots. The greatest successes with 

 Himalayan Rhododendrons in the 

 British Isles have been obtained near 

 the sea in the south and south-western 

 counties, where the temperature is 

 equable and moist. The districts in 

 which they are grown to greatest per- 

 fection are near Swansea, in Wales, 

 and about Falmouth, in Cornwall, and 

 also in the south of England and Ire- 

 land generally, the coast line all round 

 the islands, too, being favourable. A 

 soil which is naturally peaty is no 

 doubt the best, but not essential ; 

 they may be grown out of doors in 

 loam either light or moderately stiff 

 so long as lime is absent, and with 

 plenty of leaf mould. They should 

 always, if possible, be planted near 

 trees near enough to be screened 

 from the sun for a few hours a day. 



The following is a list of species of 

 some proved hardy in Britain in the 

 southern counties and in good suitable 

 soils : 



R. ARBOREUM. The best known of the 

 Himalayan species, and one of the most 

 variable. The various forms may roughly 

 be divided into two groups, the one with 

 foliage that is silvery beneath, the other 

 having the under side of the leaf covered 

 more or less with a reddish tomentum. 

 The leaves of all are from 5 to 8 inches 

 long, the trusses rounded or sometimes 

 almost conical, with the flowers closely 

 packed, the colour of the bell-shaped 

 corolla varying from rich crimson to 

 almost white. The plants known under the 

 following names belong to the arboreum 

 group, some having been given specific 

 rank : Campbellits, flowers rosy purple, 

 leaves rusty beneath ; Umbatum, flowers 

 rosy purple, leaves silvery beneath ; 

 nilagiricum, flowers rosy, leaves reddish 

 beneath ; cinnamomeum, flowers almost 

 white ; Windsori, flowers and trusses 

 smaller, rich crimson. 



R. AUCKLANDI. This tender species 

 attains the dimensions of a small tree, 



