Beautiful Flowering Shrubs 



it were poisoned, and the honey the bees drew lavishly 

 from it was narcotic. The same observer records, how- 

 ever, that he found a certain Tartarean farmer who 

 lived entirely on the profits of the honey his bees drew 

 from this shrub ; apparently the Turks of Constan- 

 tinople, with whom he traded, liked the gentle narcotic 

 effect. This Azalea, then, is R. fiamum. It, too, had 

 deciduous leaves, and flowers that blossomed before the 

 foliage was fully grown. It was the only true yellow 

 Azalea then known, and its beauty and hardiness made 

 it a welcome addition to English gardens. 



At the beginning of the nineteenth century there 

 commenced a great movement among gardeners with 

 respect to the hybridising of Azaleas, and these four 

 species, the three Western and the one Eastern, w r ere the 

 factors of endless combinations and permutations, and 

 some very beautiful garden hybrids were evolved, 

 notably at Highclere Castle, near Newbury. The move- 

 ment spread ; a Flemish baker named Mortier, living at 

 Ghent, became also bitten with this interesting pur- 

 suit, and he not only raised a number of notable new 

 varieties himself, but infected his gardening townsfolk 

 with the same desire. The sandy soil and the climatic 

 conditions of this city proved exceptionally favourable 

 to the shrub, and hence there quickly grew up a great 

 industry for raising Azaleas, with a world-wide trade, 

 so much so that the name " Ghent Azaleas " became 



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