260 ARISTOCRATS OF THE GARDEN 



when the flowers escape late frosts these plants are 

 very beautiful in spring, but unfortunately this rarely 

 happens. 



Valuable for the rockery and partial to sunshine 

 are R. racemosum, R. Jlavidum, and R. intricatum, three 

 new-comers from China. They are twiggy plants 

 growing from four to six feet high and may be rooted 

 from cuttings. The first named was introduced into 

 Paris about 1890, and has pure pink to rose-colored 

 flowers. The other two were introduced into England 

 by myself in 1904, and one, as its name suggests, has 

 pale yellow blossoms while those of R. intricatum are 

 pale violet. These species are very floriferous alpine 

 plants with small leaves and flowers and of neat and 

 charming habit. 



The only other species of this group that need be 

 mentioned is R. micranthum, also from China, which 

 has clusters of minute Ledum-like white flowers 

 and small leaves. It is a hardy plant of twiggy 

 growth well suited for massing and grows from four 

 to six feet tall. 



(b) We now come to the last group, the most valu- 

 able and desirable of all, and the one with which most 

 people associate the name Rhododendron. As met 

 with in gardens and in nurseries this group is mainly 

 of hybrid origin and I may preface what follows by an 



