SEPTEMBEE 165 



coming in great variety to this country. He met me 

 by the objection 'The wu-r-r-rst of rhododendrons is 

 they will not flower when the family is at home.' He 

 spoke with evident resentment against the sad tactless- 

 ness of the genus ; for which I fear there is no remedy, 

 so long as county magnates continue to spend spring 

 and summer in London. 1 Nor is there much prospect 

 of that custom falling into disuse, although an attempt 

 to put an end to it was made by the Scottish Parliament 

 so long ago as the year 1426, when it was enacted that 

 land-owners should ' big [build], reparrell and reforme 

 their castles and inanours, and dwell in them ... for 

 the gratious governall of their landes be [by] gude 

 policie, and to expende the frute of their landes in the 

 countrie quhair [where] the landes lies.' 



My suggestion of rhododendrons having thus been 

 turned down, we had to consider what shrubs delay 

 flowering until summer is well-nigh sped. Although it 

 is true that one cannot secure in autumn such a con- 

 stellation of blossom as illuminates our shrubberies in 

 spring and early summer, there is plenty of material for 

 very delightful display, requiring reasonable forethought 

 to secure. The following list has been compiled from 

 the contents of a Scottish garden on the west coast, 

 where the flowering season may be reckoned as a 

 fortnight or three weeks later than in the southern 

 counties of England. Plants suitable only for mild 

 districts are marked with an asterisk * and those re- 

 quiring the shelter or support of a wall are marked w. 



1 Some species of Rhododendron brought from China of recent 

 years flower in July and August, such as R. discolor, crassum, 

 Scottianum, etc. 



