2.6 Encyclopaedia of Gardening 



round. The good exhibition varieties increase but slowly, there- 

 fore they are never likely to be cheap plants. They are repotted in 

 late spring, when any offsets which have formed are removed and 

 potted separately, to be grown on into flowering plants. A com- 

 post of loam (4 parts), decayed manure, and leaf mould (i part 

 each), and sand is used. A suitable size of pot for the old plants is 

 5 -in. The frame is set to face north for the summer, and is fully 

 ventilated. In autumn it is turned to the south, and watering is 

 reduced, very little being given in winter. The plants are looked 

 over periodically for louse, which is brushed off and destroyed. 

 The following are good varieties: Green-edged, Rev. F. D. Horner 

 and John Garrett; grey-edged, Colonel Champneys and George 

 Rudd; white-edged, Acme and Heather Bell. Selfs, Heroine and 

 Mrs. Potts. Alpines, Celtic King, yellow; Masterpiece, maroon and 

 yellow. The botanical name of the Auricula is Primula Auricula. 



Azalea (aza-lea, from azaleas, dry, referring to the habitat. Ord. 

 Ericaceae). The Azalea is one of the most brilliant of early-flower- 

 ing plants. It is valuable for the flower garden (see Shrubs under 

 Flower Garden) and also for the greenhouse or conservatory. Its 

 culture as a pot plant is made simple by the skill of Belgian gardeners, 

 who specialise the plant just as Dutchmen do Hyacinths. Instead 

 of a bulb, however, they send a plant on a clean stem a few inches 

 long, the head of which is well set with flower-buds. There is a 

 recognised special trade in these Belgian Azaleas. The amateur 

 who buys them through a florist or bulb dealer is not asked an 

 exorbitant price. He places the plants in a mildly heated house, 

 waters them when the pots ring hollow, and sees them gradually 

 break into a sheet of glowing bloom. These little standard Azaleas 

 are very useful for breaking the uniformity of a flat stageful of 

 dwarf bulbs or other plants, and they can be brought into the rooms 

 for special occasions. A person with command of two or more 

 houses can have a succession of bloom by forcing some of them in 

 greater heat than the others. After flowering the blooms should 

 be pinched off carefully to avoid injuring the growth, and the plants 

 will grow on and make leaves. They may be stood outdoors in 

 summer, and watered as required, when they will set a fresh lot of 

 flower-buds. They like a peaty soil, and may be grown successfully 

 in a compost of 3 parts peat, i loam, and a good sprinkling of sand. 

 Young shoots may be removed as cuttings a.nd struck in sandy 

 peat under a bell-glass in bottom heat. Grafting is done in the 

 nurseries. Good varieties of the Indian and Chinese sections for 

 pots: Fielder's white, single; Reine des Fleurs, single salmon; 

 Bernard Andre, double violet; Deutsche Perle, double early white; 

 Souvenir de Prince Albert, double rose ; and Simon Mardner, carmine 

 rose. The following are good varieties for growing in peaty soil in 

 the garden : 



Ghent Azaleas. 

 Comte de Flandre, carmine. 

 Madame Thibaut, cream. 

 Unique, yellow. 



Hybrid Mollis Azaleas. 

 Alphonse Lavallee, orange. 

 Anthony Koster, yellow. 

 Duchess of Portland, cream and rose. 

 Glory of Boskoop, orange. 



