RHODODENDRONS 3 



and R. catawbiense. No doubt the development of open-air 

 gardening which took place in this country in the latter half 

 of last century had a quickening influence on the spread of 

 the Rhododendron. It then became the fashion to plant 

 collections of hardy trees and shrubs, more especially ever- 

 greens, in large gardens and parks, and whilst many of the 

 plants that were tried then have since gone out of cultiva- 

 tion or out of favour, Rhododendrons have proved to be 

 by far the most valuable of all hardy evergreen flowering 

 shrubs ever introduced. 



English nurserymen have done much to foster a love of 

 hardy plants. This is to be commended, because far more 

 pleasure is derived from the cultivation of plants in the open 

 air, where all the conditions are approximately natural, than 

 from the most elaborate arrangement for gardening under 

 glass. Rhododendrons contribute largely to the pleasures of 

 the garden in " God's own greenhouse." They are present- 

 able at all times, far more so than many of the leafy ever- 

 greens which are so commonly planted as garden furniture, 

 and which never look different from year's end to year's end. 

 Take as an example the common R. ponticum. We have no 

 shrub to equal it, either as a hardy evergreen which stands 

 town smoke ; as a park shrub for planting in masses to serve 

 as a screen or to furnish a pleasing object in the landscape ; 

 to provide shelter and cover for game ; to clothe large areas 

 with evergreen foliage ; or to help to fill a shrubbery. The 

 habit of the plant, the healthy green of its shapely foliage, 

 and its hardy constitution are all very good qualities in an 

 evergreen. To these there is still to be added the beauty 

 of its flowers. It may be faddish to say so, but I am not 

 alone in the opinion that R. ponticum, when happily situated 

 in a wood or as a large bold mass on the grass in the open, 

 is, when in flower, the most effective of all Rhododendrons. 



