Gardening for Amateurs 



869 



may all be expected to thrive : R. Falconer!, 

 a noble plant growing 20 to 25 feet high, 

 with very large leaves covered with rusty 

 felt below, and bearing very large heads 

 of cream-coloured flowers ; R. grande is 

 another vigorous large-leaved sort, which 

 also bears very fine, shapely heads of cream- 

 coloured flowers ; R. griffithianum has loose 

 heads of large white blooms ; R. barba- 

 tum forms a fine bush, 12 to 15 feet high, 

 with rich red flowers ; while R. arboreum, 

 which sometimes attains the proportions 

 of a tree, 30 to 40 feet high, is remarkable 

 for its compact trusses of rich red or crimson 

 blooms it has many varieties in which the 

 colour of the flowers varies from red to pink 

 and white. Then there are R. Thomsoni, a 

 bush with tubular crimson flowers ; R. 

 campylocarpum, with yellow blossoms ; R. 

 ciliatum, a bush 2 to 4 feet high, with white, 

 rose-flushed blooms ; and R. cinnabarinum, 

 with long tubular yellow or red flowers. 

 Hybrids between some of them have been 

 raised. Good ones are : Shilsoni, red ; 

 Glory of Penjerrick, red ; Cornubia, red ; 

 Gill's Triumph, red ; Beauty of Tremough, 

 pink ; Mrs. Shilson, pink. 



The hardier kinds are, however, better 

 known. A few distinct species are in fairly 

 general cultivation, but the hybrids and 

 garden varieties far outnumber them. The 

 various hybrids have been raised by cross- 

 ing such hardy kinds as the North American 

 R. Catawbiense and the European R. ponti- 

 cum with the more tender species from the 

 Himalayas, particularly with R. arboreum. 

 Another which has exerted some influence on 

 these garden forms is the dwarf R. caucasicum, 

 a native of the Caucasus. By their cross- 

 breeding a wide range of varieties has been 

 obtained, which includes large-growing bushes 

 bearing shapely trusses of flowers of many 

 shades : white, pink, rose, red, crimson, 

 lilac, purple, etc., are all represented. Then 

 there are other hybrids with larger flowers 

 and looser trusses which have been raised by 

 using such as R. Thomsoni and R. griffithi- 

 anum as parents. There is also a group 

 having fragrant flowers. In this case the 

 Chinese Rhododendron Fortunei has exerted 

 considerable influence. 



The period of flowering is a long one ; 

 in the south-west counties it extends over 



about eight months, and near London one 

 or two early kinds are in flower about 

 Christmas, and the later ones are scarcely 

 over before the middle of July. Among 

 the hardiest kinds the following may be 

 accepted as a good selection : 



The best sorts. Alexander Dancer, 

 bright rose, lighter centre ; Ascot Brilliant, 

 blood-red ; August van Geert, chocolate- 

 purple, spotted, large truss ; Baroness 

 Schroder, plum colour, yellowish centre ; 

 Broughtonii, rosy-red, very fine truss ; Cataw- 

 biense, mauve ; Charles Dickens, scarlet ; 

 Delicatissimum, blush ; Doncaster, scarlet, 

 dwarf ; Earl of Shannon, deep crimson ; 

 Frederick Waterer, crimson ; Gomer Waterer, 

 white ; H. H. Hunnewell, crimson ; John 

 Waterer, crimson ; King of the Purples, 

 purple ; Lady Clementina Mitford, peach 

 colour, fine truss ; Lady Grey Egerton, pale 

 lilac ; Lord Palmerston, rosy - red ; Mar- 

 chioness of Lansdowne, pale rose, with dark 

 spots ; Michael Waterer, scarlet ; Winnie, 

 white with brown spots ; Mrs. Anthony 

 Waterer, white ; Mrs. E. C. Stirling, blush- 

 pink, very fine truss ; Mrs. Holford, salmon- 

 pink ; Mrs. William Agnew, pale rose with a 

 lighter edge ; Mrs. William Bovill, rose- 

 scarlet ; Pink Pearl, pink perhaps the 

 finest of all the garden varieties ; Sappho, 

 white, blotched maroon ; Snowflake, white ; 

 The Queen, white, flushed rose ; Vauban, 

 mauve with a yellow blotch. 



In addition to these the following 

 species and hybrids are worth attention : 

 R. campanulatum, possibly the hardiest of 

 the Himalayan kinds, bears lilac flowers ; 

 R. dauricum from Dahuria and Mandshuria, 

 which bears rosy-purple flowers in mid- 

 winter ; R. ferrugineum, sometimes called 

 the " Rose des Alpes," a dwarf plant bear- 

 ing small rich red flowers ; R. Fortunei, a 

 Chinese species of strong growth having large 

 fragrant pink flowers ; R. kewense, a 

 hybrid with large fragrant white, pink-tinted 

 blossoms ; R. Luscombei, a hybrid between 

 R. Fortunei and R. Thomsoni, with large 

 rose-coloured tubular flowers ; R. Manglesii, 

 another lovely hybrid with white flowers ; 

 R. praecox, an early-flowering, dwarf-grow- 

 ing bush with rose-coloured blooms ; R. 

 racemosum, a dwarf Chinese kind bearing 

 its white, rose-flushed flowers from almost 



