48 DECORATIVE PLANTS, TREES AND SHRUBS 



tions. Some are white, some are pink, others rose, and one at least 

 is carmine. Nurserymen when budding their apples should find 

 stocks to spare for a few of each of these, as they are and will be 

 more and more in request. 



RHODODENDRONS 



When writing of the rhododendron we feel there is so much to 

 be said that it should be given a chapter to itself, but we remember 

 there is no reason why we should deal with it in too much detail. 

 It is, admittedly, the most popular and admired of all our hardy 

 flowering shrubs, mainly because of its blooms, but something also 

 for its fine foliage. The various species, coming to us as they do 

 from all over the world, do not appeal to us as potential market 

 plants, so we can leave them out of our consideration, while we turn 

 to those magnificent hybrids obtained from crossing such species 

 as R. arboreum, R. catawbiense, R. caucasicum, R. fortunei, R. 

 ponticum and others. These, far more than anything else, have 

 made the rhododendron what it is and compelled the admiration of 

 all lovers of the garden. We cannot find the same wealth in any of 

 the types, no such rich colouring and delicate pencilling of the petals, 

 no flowers so large, no trusses so huge as in Pink Pearl, White Pearl, 

 Duke of York, Mrs. E. C. Stirling, Lady C. Mitford and others. 



SOURCES OF SUPPLY 



Even though our provincial towns are used as dumps by the 

 Dutch growers of the rhododendron, sensible people know that the 

 better varieties (no matter what labels may be attached to them) 

 cannot be procured from such a source, and years of disappointment 

 will in due course tend to discourage such importations. We, on 

 our part, must be very careful to supply sterling varieties true to 

 name, and though we cannot compete with the prices of the auction 

 yards we can make our appeal to those who know " what's what," 

 who hold their gardens in greater regard than to fill them with 

 rubbish. 



fc Yet most of us must depend upon the Dutch grower for our young 

 stock, but we are discriminating enough to know that the reputable 

 and reliable houses have no occasion to dump stuff either here or 



