SCOTTISH GAEDENS IN GENEKAL 



advantage of their position to cultivate plants that 

 revel in a cretaceous soil, are at infinite pains to 

 prepare beds for rhododendrons, and so make their 

 gardens as like those of other people as possible. 

 And others, possessed of the cool soil and humid 

 atmosphere in which rhododendrons rejoice seldom 

 plant any but the common ponticum and its hybrids. 

 All along the west coast, from the Land's End to 

 Cape Wrath, a continual succession of bloom from 

 midwinter to the very end of July can be secured 

 by planting the exquisite Himalayan and Caucasian 

 species, many of which it is vain to attempt to bring 

 through the winter in the famous nurseries at 

 Woking and Bagshot. Miss Wilson has caught 

 some of these in flower in an Argyllshire garden 

 (Stonefield, Plate IX.) and, lest the beautiful scene she 

 has depicted should stimulate a desire in any of 

 my west-coast readers to attempt similar effects, a 

 list of the choicer species is given in Appendix A. 



The two things requisite for success are sufficient 

 drainage to prevent the soil getting waterlogged 

 and shelter from violent winds, especially wind off 

 the sea. Many species, such as R. arboreum, 

 campanulatum, cinnamomeum and cinnabarinum will 

 live and flower even in a windy exposure, but 

 their foliage gets seared and stunted, and the 

 foilage of these choice -shrubs is as remarkable for 

 beauty as their flowers. 



There is a host of other exotics reputed tender 

 in the neighbourhood of London and in the English 



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