RHODODKNDRON 



RHODODKNDRON 



1521 



tered locutiuus, provided soil conditions art.- .sunieieiitly 

 favorable To niaintain a vigorous and healthy growth. 

 Fertilizers can he applied to Hhododendrons to increase 

 The after-growth. althony:h it is not dcsiral)Ie that they 

 l>e applied dim-tly to tin- routs. Stalih' nianure should 

 perhaps never l)e worked tlirou-h tiic soil until it has 

 been allowed to tliorou-hly w.-atliiT t.y being tirst ap- 

 plied as a uiuIcIl on tlic surface (d' the ground. Here, 

 again, it is essential that care lie takm" in working in 

 such fertilizer that it l>e dour jn such a manner that 

 the tine, hbrous roots ot' the Kliododrndron which are 

 so close to the surface of the soil he not seriously dis- 

 turbed. It is perhaps better to leare Tlie fertilizer as a 

 niulcli on the surface of the ground without attempting 

 to work it generally into the soil. During the winter 

 months a raking of leaves shouhl be worked through 

 the beds to a tlepth of six inches to a foot, and it is 

 better that the gardener be not over-particular in raking 

 away these leaves in the spring, leaving the bare sur- 

 face of the ground exposed, with the consequent injury 

 to the surface roots of the Rhododendron through 

 drought conditions. "Where it is possible to provide a 

 somewhat shaileti location with an eastern or northern 

 exposure the Khododendron will succeed better than 

 under conditions of southern or western exposure. A 

 southern exposure necessitates careful shading of the 

 plants throughout the winter in order to prevent 

 injury from alternate freezing and thawing in the late 

 winter months or by blasting of the flower-buds through 

 too early growth with its consequent injury from late 

 spring frosts. When massed against a background of 

 evergreens the Rhododendron perhaps shows to its best 

 advantage, but with the use of the taller-growing varie- 

 ties they make tall, showy banks of Rhododendrons 

 alone. The greatest cause for disapitointment in the 

 use of the imported Rhododendron occurs through lack 

 of discrimination in the selection of varieties and also 

 in the manner of propaij:;i-tion of thesi- varieties. Rho- 

 dodendrons grafted on B],n.]n,lru<lrn„ Poutirnm, a 

 native of southern Enropie and Asia IMinor, cannot l)e 

 depended on for best success, as no matter how hardy 

 the top of the plant may be, unless the junctions of the 

 graft are below the surface of the soil so tliat the stalk 

 itself is protected, nothing but disappointment can 

 result, since the roots of the plant are killed and there 

 is nothing from which the top can draw nourishment. 

 So far as possible varieties must be selected that are 

 either grown from layers or worked on some perfectly 

 hardy stock, such as Ji'liodniJeiidro)) ■tnaximuat or S. 

 Catatch>en:<e. R. Cataichi'^n.'if and its various forms 

 have constituted the main part of the plants that 

 have been imported, wliile the J?. )n<i.n'wn)n has until 

 lately been practically lost sight of, thou^di tlie fact 

 remains that for many 3'ears J?, wax'tminn has con- 

 tributed to the establishment of a class of hardy 

 forms such as the variety Delicatissimum, in which 

 one finds the vigor of growth and size of foliage indica- 

 tive of the Maximum parentage, while the abundance of 

 bloom and color can be traced to that other parent, B. 

 Cafriicl)ie>i-se. Some other varieties are in commerce 

 that have had similar hardy parentage, and some seed- 

 lings are known in this country which combine great 

 merits but which up to the present time have not been 

 offered or propagated largely. Amontr these could be 

 mentioned the variety "James Comley," a seedling 

 originated bv James Comley on the estate of Francis B. 

 Hayes, of Lexington, for which the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society awarded a silver medal in 1898. 

 The great objection to the use of Hybrid Rhododendrons 

 has been their cost and the length of time that was 

 necessary to wait for the smaller plants to make satis- 

 factory hei,i,^ht for producing landscape effects. Con- 

 sequently, the landscape architects of recent yeitrs have 

 sought a variety of Rhododendron that would combine 

 vigor of growth, blooming quality and perfect hardi- 

 ness. Experiments made with collected ]dants of JR. 

 maximum taken from various h>ealities have proved 

 that this plant is practical for such purposes; and the 

 outcome of such experiments has been that such large 

 private estates as those of William Rockefeller, W. L. 

 Elkins, Mrs. Eliot F. Shepard, and others, have very 

 largely been stocked with collected plants of B. maxi- 

 mum, 'snppUed in car-load lots and in sizes ranging 



from 8-foot bushy specimens down to small plants that 

 could be grown on for future Mower and foliage eii'ects. 

 These plants are taken from localities where the plants 

 are growing either in the open or under moderate shade 

 conditions and have been pruned by the natural process 

 of fire, resulting in a vigorous growth of a. more or less 

 Ifushy and compact nature and growing in soil ..d' suffi- 

 cient ricljness to assure their digging with a large 

 amount of clinging earth. With proper care in trans- 

 portation and after-cultivation the results show a sur- 

 prisingly small loss of plants. Plaids c(d]ected under 

 these iileal conditions i^ive entirely satisfiictory results, 

 but so far as these conditions of careful digging, pack- 

 ing, transportation and after-culture are violated, the 

 results are correspondingly less satisfactory. 



The areas from which tl)e plants can be collected 

 under the conditions mentioned aliove are very re- 

 stricted and soon become exhausted of the plants. 

 There seems to l»e no limit to the size of the plants 

 that can be transplanted with success, as bi'oad masses 

 12 feet high and as much in diameter frequently are 

 moved and show practically no set-liack in the trims- 

 planting. J. Wooi.wAKi) Mannin-;, 



INDEX. 



For many other names, see suppleuientary list. 



a='rui,'inosiim, 10. fragrnns, "i, oratmn, 10. 



all)um, ;;, 4, 6, 12, Hrini ntoiuli, i:>. Poiiticuui, 4. 



14 and suppl. Idrsutmn, i:.>. pra-cox, 'JU. 



ariiutifolium, l'>. jasniinitioinui, 11. punctatuni, 14. 



arljorenni, ti. Keiskei, 17. puuiceus, G. 



atrnrireits, 19. Kini^iiiiinni, G. purpureum, 3. 



azaleoides, 5. lirnljatuiii, (i. Purshii, '.i. 



Batemani. 10. maxim-uni, 3, 5. roseo-all.mm, 7. 



brachycarpum, 8. Metternicbi, 9. roseum, 'i. 



Californifura, 1. minus, 14. sempervirens, l\>. 



eampanTilatum, 10. miicroniilatum, 18. splendens, 7. 



Catawbiense, 2. myrtit'olium, 16 and stramiaemn, 7. 



Caucaslcura. 7. sappl, Wallichl, 10. 



cinn:imoTneum, G. Nil;ii;iri<-iim, G. Washingtoniaiuim, 



Daliuricum, lit. od'Tiitum. .">. 1. 



(lai'hnoidrs, ir>. oh-o-fnlnnii , ir>. Wilsoni, 15. 



ferrngin<-'Uiu, 12, oraUfulhnn. IG. Wiiidsorii, 6. 

 flavidiiiu, 7. 



A. F'-iJiiir/e tnid ovarij wf h-}ii<lnfi: : 

 hiiils H-i(h iiioini i III h r i <■ <i ( e 

 scnJes. Eli'}l\orlo{le)i<l niti. 

 B. Jji-s. glahro'us hciu-d/li or onh/ 

 ■puhescerif irlun iiKinig. 



C. Plants irifh rnyuirrniis. pi. f- 

 .<;isfe}if irs. 

 D. PedicrJs f/hihrnii.^ 1. Californicum 



I'D. P('(]i<-r/s l> II h r .s' Cent or 

 (ihliidul'ir. 

 E. ~P 11 <1 P. r s id I' Of i vs. 

 irlilfisJi. 

 F. ( '11 JjlX - lohis )}} II r Ji 



sliin-irrtliiui iirar'i. 2. Catawbiense 



FP. C</Iil.r-/i'hfS ahnnj as 



loin; OS cnin/ :;. maximum 



EE. Ciidrr side of Jvs. pair 



iir-rii 4. Ponticum 



CO. Phnit.iirifh I rs. rotln-r llii n , 

 fiilSivii o ff fh r s, ro ,1 d 



sjiriuij, 2~o^.2 ill- f<')i'.i 0. azaleoides 



BB. Lrs . fi'mfufose or pithcsceyii 



Ue)i<oth. 



o. y I' mill hnnirlics and crayij 



tf>nir„l->sr. 



1.. Siiriih otlonii},ii ;25 ff. in 



Iirl.jh/, or frrr J..:r,, n> i loj 



40 fl .: pfont IniJf-hordii. 0. arhoreum 



Dr-, Slinif', 2^ fl. Jiif/Ji,r,rrriii 



10 ff. l,i<ii,: fdo)>fh'frdt/. 



E. Corn]!,, r,-Johrd, spuftrd 



fir.rriish. 



P. The Jrs.ariife ol ho(h 



nids 7. Caucasicum 



PP. riw Irs. nhfuse Iff 



both ends 8. brachycarpum 



9. Metternichi 

 EE. Corolla f'-T-hd'ed. spot- 

 Ird purple. 

 CO. > ounij hni ni:Ji<'s,p>'ilireJs and 



ovary ejlnhrous 10. campanulatum 



