Deoember 13, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



4-i!> 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day Day 



of 1 of 

 Month Week. 



DECEMBER 13—10, 1877. 



Average 



Temperature near 



London. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



Sun 



Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 



Seta. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 

 belore 

 Sun. 



Day 



of 



Tear. 



1 





Day. 



Night. 



Mean. b. m. 



h. m. 



h. m. 



b. m. 



Dava. 







IS 



TH 



Royal Society at S.30 p.m. 



47.5 



36.5 



40.2 1 8 



3 49 



13 



Morn. 



9 



5 2S 



347 



14 



F 



Prince Albert died, 1861. 



469 



34 3 



40.6 1 8 1 



3 49 



24 



1 13 



10 



4 59 



348 



15 



8 





47.0 



S3.6 



40.3 1 8 2 



3 49 



36 



2 14 



11 



4 30 



349 



16 



Sun 



3 SONDAT IN ADVENT. 



46 5 



32.9 



S9.7 | 8 S 



3 49 



52 



3 28 



12 



4 1 



8)0 



17 



M 





45.9 



84.0 



89.9 8 4 



8 49 



1 13 



4 47 



IS 



8 St 



851 



18 



Tu 





45.8 



33.7 



39.7 i 8 4 



8 49 



1 43 



6 7 



14 



S 2 



352 



19 



W 



Society of Arts at 8 r.H. 



45.4 



32.5 



39.6 8 5 



3 50 



2 26 



7 24 



15 



2 32 



85S 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years. 

 88.2". 



the average day temperature 



of the week iB 43 



3° ; and its night 



teirperafcure 



HAEDY AZALEAS. 



REENHOUSE Azaleas as represented by 

 the beautiful varieties of A. indica are es- 

 teemed indispensable in every conservatory 

 ■where spring flowers of high quality are 

 appreciated. The value of these handsome 

 flowers is admitted by the extent — almost 

 universality— of their culture ; nor is this 

 preference to be wondered at, for whether we 

 regard the massive grandeur of the richly- 

 coloured varieties — glowing pyramids, bril- 

 liant globes or dazzling standards — or the soft and de- 

 licate tints of the neutral colours — pillars of beauty, 

 chaste yet gay, they command admiration wherever they 

 a/re seen in the fresh bright garb of perfect health. No 

 wonder, I say, can be expressed that these beautiful plants 

 are so popular, but there is room for surprise that another 

 branch of this floriferous family is so systematically 

 neglected — I mean the beautiful varieties of Azaleas 

 pontica and mollis. I hesitate not to say — and I am 

 certain all who are acquainted with the best varieties of 

 the sections named will give acquiescence — that these 

 charming hardy shrubs are of at least equal importance 

 as the greenhouse varieties, the fame of which is so firmly 

 established. 



Many are the lovers of flowers who possess gardens but 

 not greenhouses, and to those the Indian Azaleas are 

 prohibited plants ; but no one who has the means of 

 growing a Laurel, Rhododendron, Dahlia, or Rose need 

 be denied the enjoyment of the beautiful hardy Azaleas 

 referred to. Neither are they exclusively adapted for out- 

 door display. They are charming as seen in beds or 

 borders, as all must admit who have seen them in good 

 condition ; but they are equally striking when the flowers 

 expand under glass. Each head of flowers of some of 

 the pontica varieties and their crosses is set in a fringe 

 of the freshest of fresh green foliage, which enhances its 

 beauty. These charmingly " encircled heads " of attrac- 

 tive flowers are not only extremely beautiful, but some 

 of them are as sweet as Honeysuckles, and nearly all of 

 them emit a delicate perfume. They are thus conserva- 

 tory flowers of the first order of merit, and are equally 

 valuable for cutting for room and vase decoration. Their 

 colours are extremely varied, yet are distinct from those 

 of most other plants flowering at the same period. 



The effect produced by the varieties of A. mollis is of 

 a different character— more bold and more imposing. 

 So floriferous are these plants that they appear when at 

 their best as being all flowers. So dense are their masses 

 of colour that it is necessary to have green-foliaged plants 

 to afford them relief — to set them off. They are gorgeous 

 but not gaudy, for even the yellow varieties possess a 

 peculiar softness of tint which subdues but does not 

 impair their brightness. 



Both the pontica and mollis varieties are forcing plants 

 of undoubted merit, and should be employed in decoration 

 wherever such shrubs as Rhododendrons, Kalmias, Lilacs, 

 Roses, &c, are grown for conservatory embellishment in 



No. S72 —Vol. XXXIII., New Sekies. 



I early spring. These deciduous Azaleas force as well, but 

 1 perhaps not quite so quickly, as any of the shrubs named, 

 I and with which they are quite worthy of being associated. 

 Well-budded plants obtained from the nurseries at the 

 present time and firmly potted in light soil and brought 

 on gradually in a vinery or forcing house will in due time 

 give a reward commensurate with the attention that has 

 been bestowed on them. 



For forcing purposes the plants may be obtained from 

 any nursery at home or abroad, and may be potted and 

 placed in gentle heat forthwith, and they will flower 

 satisfactorily within a few months from being potted. If 

 judiciously treated after having flowered and their buds 

 are set and foliage kept healthy throughout the summer 

 they will flower still earlier the second season. I have 

 had plants both from English and Belgian nurseries 

 which have arrived in such good condition that they have 

 flowered equally as well as have others which have been 

 potted from the reserve garden at home. Thus they are 

 tractable plants, easily managed, and as certain in pro- 

 ducing good results as any plants can be that are accele- 

 rated in growth, and made to flower some time before 

 their natural season. 



For shrubbery and general garden decoration they are 

 admirably adapted. When associated with Rhododendrons 

 they enhance the effect of those gorgeous shrubs by the 

 distinct colours imparted, and which show to great advan- 

 tage amidst the rich foliage of those queenly evergreens. 

 Azaleas of the pontica and mollis types are, too, for any- 

 thing that I know to the contrary, as hardy as Rhodo- 

 dendrons ; at any rate I conceive they are sufficiently 

 hardy to pass uninjured through the ordinary winters of 

 any district in Great Britain and Ireland. 



These valuable hardy flowering shrubs and excellent 

 forcing plants cannot be considered without associating 

 with them the memory of a famous horticulturist — the 

 late Mr. Louis Van Houtte. It is to his enterprise, 

 sagacity, and the skill retained in the celebrated establish- 

 ment at Ghent that we are chiefly indebted for the finest 

 varieties that have been distributed. In a recent issue 

 of the Journal reference was made to an English Memorial 

 Committee who are in possession of funds enabling them 

 to offer prizes at the next Ghent Quinquennial Exhibition 

 in honour of the man to whose skill and energy the horti- 

 cultural world is so greatly indebted. That is a graceful 

 tribute to real worth ; but a greater memorial than even 

 that of the remarkable man whom all delight to honour 

 is found in the fine varieties of hardy Azaleas which he 

 originated and which will remain as bright records of 

 his fame — mementos of a man whose name, like that of 

 the genus of plants with which it is so intimately asso- 

 ciated, can never die. 



Those who have not seen the thousands — the acres — 

 of these plants in the grounds at Gendbrugge can form no 

 conception of the magnitude of the trade in them — trade 

 which extends to all tne nations of the civilised world. I 

 have seen that great collection at different seasons of the 

 year — in early summer when the plants have been flower- 

 ing, presenting a sea of bloom, and in the autumn when 



No. 1524.— Vol. LVUI., Old Semes. 



