SPRING EFFECTS ON THE LAWN. 



49 



There is one plant, also of kindred type, for which I 

 must, before concluding, express my admiration, and that is 

 Azalea mollix. Of comparatively recent introduction from 

 Japan, it has scarcely as yet gained 

 a foothold on American lawns. At 

 first sight one might fancy it a 

 superior form of the ordinal'}' but 

 choice and lovely hybrid American 

 or Ghent azalea, which, 

 in a general way, it 

 doubtless resembles. 



The foliage is simi- 

 lar, and the general ap- 

 pearance of the flower, 

 at a little distance, of 

 like character, but the 

 bloom appears at least 

 two weeks earlier than 

 that of the Ghent azalea, 

 amining the flower somewhat nearer, we will 

 recognize immediately its superiority to the 

 ordinary form. The petals are twice the size, as 

 large even in some cases as those of the rhodo- 

 dendron, and suffused with the most exquisite 

 tints of orange, saffron, and crimson. Of the type, 

 there is scarcely anything as fine on the lawn. 

 On beholding the beauty of Azalea mollis the remark 

 has been made that the Ghent azalea must be superseded 

 by so effective a flower of similar character, but such a 

 thing as one good kind entirely superseding another good 



AZALEA MOLLIS. 



Moreover, on ex- 



