36 WOOD AND GARDEN 



narrow, and the truss not tightly filled. Nevertheless 

 I find it quite the most beautiful Rhododendron as a 

 cut flower, perJiaps just because of these unorthodox 

 qualities. And much as I admire the great bouncing 

 beauties that are most justly the pride of their raisers, 

 I hold that this most refined and delicate class of 

 beauty equally deserves faithful championship. The 

 flowers of this pretty old kind are of a delicate milk- 

 white, and the lower petals are generously spotted with 

 a rosy-scarlet of the loveliest quality. The leaves are 

 the longest and narrowest and darkest green of any 

 kind I know, making the bush conspicuously hand- 

 some in winter. I have to confess that it is a shy 

 bloomer, and that it seems unwilling to flower in a 

 young state, but I think of it as a thing so beautiful 

 and desirable as to be worth waiting for. 



Within March, and before the busier season comes 

 upon us, it is well to look out for the suckers that are 

 likely to come on grafted plants. They may generally 

 be detected by the typical pontieum leaf, but if the 

 foliage of a branch should be suspicious and yet doubt- 

 ful, if on following the shoot down it is seen to come 

 straight from the root and to have a redder bark than 

 the rest, it may safely be taken for a robber. Of course 

 the invading stock may be easily seen when in flower, 

 but the good gardener takes it away before it has this 

 chance of reproaching him. A lady visitor last year 

 told me with some pride that she had a most wonder- 

 ful Rhododendron in bloom ; all the flower in the 



