Rhododen- like what gardeners term an “open” place—that is, a position 
drons at where they get abundance of both light and air; but just as 
Kew and they enjoy the air better when it reaches them in gentle waves 
Saltwood than when it strikes them in fierce currents, so they enjoy 
a suffused light in preference to a fierce glare. The colours, 
too, hold better when the hot rays of the midday sun are 
broken than when they fall in full power. 
That these magnificent plants will thrive in districts 
presenting different conditions from those which prevail in the 
great Rhododendron centres—Bagshot, Tregothnan, Penjerrick, 
Carclew, Tremough—we are often meeting with proof of. 
The success of Kew is very considerable. Who would suppose 
that on a light-land flat, close to the Thames bed, Rhodo- 
dendrons could be grown almost as well as in the cool Cornish 
valleys? The Kew plants are very fine, and are particularly 
interesting as a proof of what cultivation can do. Nor would 
Rhododendron lovers be likely to look in East Kent, with its 
reputation for chalk and spring gales, for anything very notable. 
It exists, however, in the beautiful garden of Mr A. C. Leney, 
at Saltwood, near Hythe. This is less than two miles from 
the sea, above which it stands at an altitude of perhaps 
250 feet. A mile or two northward lie the chalk hills. The 
garden is formed on the sides and bed of a little valley, the 
“rims” of which are fringed with trees. The site is open, but 
sheltered—a tiny cafion, a world within a world. The soil is 
cool and moist, but drained. The eternal gales sweep out of 
the Channel and swoop upon the land, but they cannot disturb 
the serenity of this favoured spot. 
Nature has done her share, and cultivation has done the 
rest. The soil has been deepened with turfy loam, leaf mould, 
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