RHODODENDRON 



not contain limestone or heavy clay and has a moist and 

 fresh subsoil will prove satisfactory. Where limestone 

 or heavy clay prevails, beds must be specially prepared 

 and filled with suitable soil. They should be at least 

 2 to 3 ft. deep, or deeper where the subsoil is not porous, 

 and in this case the bottom should be filled in about 

 1-2 ft. high with gravel or broken stones for drainage. 

 A mixture of leaf-mold or peat and sandy loam will 

 make a suitable soil. In dry spells during the summer, 

 watering is necessary if the subsoil is not very moist; 

 it is most essential that the soil never become really 

 dry. In the fall the ground should be covered with 

 leaves, pine needles, hay or other material to protect 

 from frost. This mulch should be allowed to remain 

 during the summer, especially where the plants are not 

 large enough to shade the ground. An occasional top- 

 dressing of well-decayed stable or cow manure will 

 prove oiE much advantage. The ground should never be 

 disturbed, as the roots are very near the surface. After 

 flowering, the young seed-vessels should be removed. 

 The Rhododendrons are easily transplanted either in 

 spring or in fall, especially if they grow in peat or turfy 

 loam, and a good ball of earth can be preserved in mov- 

 ing. They should be planted firmly, especially in 

 porous, peaty soil, and thoroughly watered after plant- 

 ing. If they are carefully haiuUed they are not much 

 affected by transplanting, and tender kinds may be dug 

 in fall, heeled-in in a frost-proof pit, and planted out 

 again in spring. Potted and well-budded plants trans- 

 ferred in -January into a temperature not exceeding 60° 

 will di-velopin about six to eightweeks into very attrac- 

 tive and showy specimens for decoration. 



ffardy Varieties. -ThatoWow-m'^x-.iriiUr^ have proved 

 hardy in the vicinity of Bost.ai an. 1 may l.r ncommended 

 for planting in similar cliniatcs ami {■>v .-xperimental 

 trial farther north. They are mostly hyl.rids of B. Ca- 

 tawbiense with iJ. maximum, Poiiticiim, Caucasicum 

 and with some infusion of B. arboreum and perhaps a 

 few other species. As in most of them the parentage of 

 B. Catawbiense is the most predominant, they are all 

 usually called "Catawbifense Hybrids." Choice kinds 

 are: Album elegans, blush, changing to white; Album 

 grandiflonim, blush, changing to white: fls. larger, less 

 spotted; Alexander Dancer, bright rose, paler in center; 

 Atrosanguineum rich blood-red- August Van Geert, 

 bright carmine spotted daik purple Bacchwi crimson 

 large fls JSjcoior purplish pmk spotted Blandianum 

 rosy crimson Caiactacus deep crimson Charles Bag 

 ley, cherrj led thin I f Dultn^ dark red spotted 

 brown in I il i t iiilm i 1 ones tcerulescenb 

 pale 111 I I ! tt 1 jellow dwarf and 



free bk i / i mine spotted greenish 



yellow P I I 1 1 1 1 I ink thanging 



to almo t \\1 It 1 It y 1 hi 1 



crisped ed^e txrelleiit II tl ^\ nng 



F. L \m white lent i ( imt iim 



bright rose lir(_,e lu tei ' I ii i c 



Hannibal ro j carmine JI / II s i i I ciimson 

 large clusters ff H Hunn atll nth crimson Jolm 



Wateter dark crimson J D Godman carmine dis 

 tinctly spotted Aettledtum rich crimson K%ng of 

 Puiples purple spotted dark brown Tjady Armstrong 

 rose red p^ler in center distinctly spotted Lady Gray 

 Egetton delicate lilic spotted greenish brown Mrs 

 C.S Suiqent similar to Everestianum but pink Mrs 

 i/i7nc)-, rich crimson; OWPo)-^ plum-color; Purpurewm 

 crispum, lilac-purple, spotted greenish ; Purpiireum 

 grandiflorum, purple, large clusters; Boseum elegans, 

 rosy lilac, dwarf; Seflon, deep maroon, large clusters; 



Wellesianum, blush, changing to white. 



Greenhouse Culture. — The most successful way, espe- 

 cially with the taller-growing species, like B. arboreum , 



Griffithianum, barbatum and Falconeri, is to plant 

 them out in a porous peaty soil provided with good 

 drainage. If grown in pots a sandy compost of leaf-soil 

 and peat, with an addition of some fibrous loam, will 

 suit them. The pots, which should never be too large, 

 must be well drained and the plants freely watered dur- 

 ing the summer, while during the winter water must 

 be carefully applied. The Himalayan species and their 



hybrids will do well in a cool greenhouse, where the 

 temperature is kept a few degrees above freezing point 

 during the winter. The Javanese species and hybrids, 



RHODODENDBON 



1517 



however, on account of their continual growing and 

 blooming, require a warmer greenhouse and must have 

 a minimum temperature of 50" during the winter. They 

 like a moist atmosphere and should be freely syringed 

 in warm weather. In potting them, their epiphytal habit 

 must be borne in mind, and the soil should consist mainly 

 of good fibrous peat broken into pieces, with a liberal 

 addition of sand and broken charcoal. The soil should 

 never be allowed to become dry. They are readily 

 propagated by cuttings ^Mtll Ij.ittmii heat in the warm 

 propagating house. 'I'Ih I i -i ■ l.ii "I "i' mlrons are 

 especially valuable f"i ' - during 



the winter and the I ' o-s. A 



large immbt-r of l.iMUiii I i i-r<l;the 



foll.,«i, J ,n. ; -1,1 i" 11/ ,,minie- 



W.nn I Ut. 37, 



p. 12 ■ ' l.rilliant 



oraug. -..111. i.i'' ' •' .'"' , A', \ . niiili. Ill-red ; 



Duchess (If Eihiihiinil,, s,-arlet with orange-crimson. F. 

 11.1874:115; i'os, scarlet-carmine. G.C. III. 19:327; JEx- 

 quisite, large light fawn-yellow fls. Gn. 56:1232; Fa- 

 vorite, satiny rose; Jasminiflorum carminatxim, deep 

 carmine. Gn. 41:852; Little Beauty, fls. small, but 

 bright carmine-scarlet. Gn. 50:1241 ; Lord Wolseley, 

 bright orange-yellow, tinted with rose at the margins; 

 Maiden's Blush. Wnsh with yellowish eye. Gn. 16:204; 

 Prinee.iti Al.xaiiilria. white, faintly blushed; Princess 

 Freihi-f':. V. ll..\v. faintly edged rose; Princess Boy al, 

 pink; /,■-...; .1/-.-,,. hright pink. Gn. 42:871; Taylori, 

 bright |.ink «nli white tube. F.M. 1877:242; Trium- 



Propagation. -All Rhododendrons are easily prop, by 

 seeds, which are very small and are sown in spring in 

 pans or boxes well drained and filled with sandy peat. 

 Pots should be well watered previous to sowing. The 

 seeds should be covered only a very little with fine sand 

 or finely cut sphagnum, or merely pressed in and not 

 covered at all. To prevent drying a glass plate may be 

 placed over the pan or some moss spread over the sur- 

 face; this, however, must be taken off as soon as the 

 seeds begin to germinate. The seeds also germinate 

 very readily if sown in fresh sphagnum, but in this 

 case they must be pricked off as soon as they can be 

 handled In any case it is of advantage to prick off the 

 young seedlings as soon as possible but if they are not 

 sown too thickly they may remain in the seed boxes 



/''m^'-- 



2104 A eood plant of Garden Rhododendron in bloom. 



until the following spring. The seedlings of hardy Rho- 

 dodendrons should be placed in coolframes and grad- 

 ually hardened off ; those of greenhouse species re- 

 main under glass. 



Rhododendrons are also sometimes increased under 

 glass by cuttings of half -ripe wood taken with a heel. 



