Beautiful Flowering Shrubs 



The leaves of an Azalea, like those of Rhododen- 

 drons, are simple and undivided in outline ; they 

 frequently show the most beautiful autumnal tints 

 before they fall. The flowers have a five-Iobed calyx, 

 a funnel-shaped corolla, five stamens whose anthers 

 open by pores at top to discharge pollen, and a seed- 

 case carrying a long style with a knob-like stigma 

 and enclosing very many small seeds. The fruit is a 

 dry capsule. They carry honey and are deliciously 

 fragrant ; in fact, it seems as though Nature had denied 

 them no possible charm it was in her power to bestow. 

 It is indeed strange that they are not more commonly 

 grown ; perhaps their very gorgeousness renders the 

 British mind suspicious of their "wearing qualities." 

 Really they are quite hardy, and might well rank as 

 ornamental shrubs for every garden. But as Mr. 

 Watson remarks in his " Rhododendrons and Azaleas " : 

 "They haven't got to that position even yet, although 

 they have every right to it always providing the soil 

 is to their liking." Surely it is time that those who 

 are responsible for public parks and pleasure gardens, 

 as well as the public in general who can only garden 

 in a small way, should wake up more fully to the 

 supreme claim of the Azaleas, not only to rank among 

 the more desirable shrubs, but also to take their place 

 as one of the most common flowering shrubs in our 

 land. 



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