Gardening for Amateurs 



tudes they may have been subject, and 

 failures with them may occur. 



In Belgium they are grown in beds in the 

 open ground, and for convenience of carriage 

 are just lifted with their mass of roots and 

 tightly packed in baskets. In this way a 

 hundred plants may be sent in a fair-sized 

 basket, whereas if they were in pots a much 

 greater space would be required. As a rule, 

 nurserymen in this country pot them imme- 

 diately on receipt, so that when offered for 

 sale they are already potted. This brings 

 one to the point that if a few are required 

 by far the better plan is to purchase them 

 in this country, whereas when buying by 

 hundreds it is advisable to obtain from the 

 source of their origin. 



As sent over, most of the plants have a 

 large mass of fibrous roots, which are freely 

 produced in the light, spongy soil in which 

 these plants are grown. At first glance it 

 appears as if the plants will require very 

 large pots, but in practice it is found that 

 good specimens can be accommodated in 

 pots from 5 inches to 6 inches in diameter. 

 This i effected by removing some of the out- 

 side roots, which may be done without 

 injuring the plant, while the ball of earth 

 may be pressed closely together, so that it 

 occupies considerably less space than before. 

 A mixture of peat and sand forms the com- 

 post used in potting, though little is needed ; 

 it must, however, be worked down firmly, 

 a thin rammer made of wood being very 

 useful for the purpose. 



When potted, a thorough watering through 

 a rose must be given, and the plants placed 

 in a frame or in the greenhouse. For a 

 little while they need to be kept somewhat 

 warm and shaded in order to help them 

 to become established after their check. 

 Moistening with the syringe two or three 

 times a day in bright weather is also of 

 great service. 



After the flowering season is over Azaleas 

 require to be treated just as carefully as 

 before, otherwise the next season's display 

 of flowers will be a meagre one. Directly 

 the blossoms are past, any straggling shoots 

 should be shortened and growth encouraged 

 by keeping them in the warmest part of the 

 greenhouse and syringeing frequently. If 

 they need repotting it should be done directly 



the fresh shoots start, using peat and sand 

 pressed down very firmly. However, annual 

 repotting is by no means necessary ; if the 

 roots and drainage are in good condition, 

 they will go for years without repotting. 

 In this case an occasional watering during 

 the growing season with weak manure and 

 soot water combined is of great service. It 

 should only be used when clear. 



After growth is completed Azaleas may be 

 placed out of doors in order to ripen the 

 shoots, and assist in the formation of flower 

 buds. At that time especially they must 

 not be allowed to suffer from want of water, 

 while syringeing in the evenings of hot days 

 is helpful. The best place for them in the 

 summer is on a hard ash bottom, the sides 

 of the pots being protected from the sun 

 by means of coco-nut refuse. In this way 

 not only is watering economised, but the 

 delicate hair-like root fibres do not feel the 

 influence of the sun. The caution as to 

 watering is particularly necessary in showery 

 weather alternated with hot sunshine, as 

 the soil may appear to be quite wet on the 

 surface, whereas the ball of earth may be 

 dry. 



While, as above stated, most of the Indian 

 Azaleas are sent here as grafted plants on 

 clean stems, a practice has sprung up within 

 the last few years of growing dwarf plants 

 from cuttings. Only a few varieties with 

 small flowers are treated in this way, that 

 most generally grown being Hexe, with 

 hose-in-hose blossoms of ruby-crimson colour. 

 Little bushes of this variety in 4-inch pots 

 are very pleasing when laden with blossom. 

 Most of the popular varieties of Indian 

 Azaleas have more or less double flowers, 

 though there are still a few good single 

 kinds. Some of the best Azaleas are Apollo, 

 scarlet ; Comtesse Eugenie de Kerchove, 

 white, striped red ; Deutsche Perle, white, 

 early ; Dr. D. Moore, deep rose ; Edmond 

 Vervaene, claret-red ; Haerensiana, rose, 

 edged white ; J. T. D. Llewellyn, rose, car- 

 mine centre : Madame Hermann Seidel, 

 white ; Madame Petrick, rose ; Niobe, ivory 

 white ; President Oswald de Kerchove, pink, 

 blotched carmine ; Professor Welters, rose, 

 light border, deep centre ; Roi de Hollande, 

 red ; Spitfire, brilliant red ; vervaeneana, 

 pink and white ; and Vuylstekeana, crimson. 



