POPULAR GARDEN PLANTS. 



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with lime or kindred substances, nor can they 

 ever be seen at their best on shallow, dry, 

 sandy soils. A cool moist bottom is essential. 

 A peaty soil is undoubtedly the most suitable 

 for them, but it is by no means indispensable. 

 Magnificent Rhododendrons and Azaleas are 

 growing in Britain that have never had a 

 particle of peat about their roots. A loam of 

 good depth and quality, thoroughly trenched 

 and improved by a liberal addition of leaf-soil, 

 is but little inferior to peat. Manure should not 

 be worked into the soil nor ever placed in imme- 

 diate contact with the roots, but as a mulching, 

 applied to the surface as summer approaches, it 

 is of great benefit. 



Plants allowed to grow so that the branches 

 rest on the ground and shade the roots, do not, 

 when once established, often need artificial water- 

 ing. Still they have to be watched in dry 

 seasons, especially on sloping banks, or near 

 large trees, or where the soil is not so good as 

 could be wished. Standards, owing to the more- 

 exposed surface of the soil, need more attention, 

 both as regards mulching and watering. In any 

 case, the leaves of neither Rhododendrons nor 

 Azaleas should ever be allowed to droop for want 

 of water at the root. As a matter of routine 

 cultivation, pruning is not needed for either. 

 Considerations as to the size or outline of 

 specimens or groups may render it necessary, 

 in which case it should be done immediately 

 after flowering, or even before, if the flowers 

 can be spared, so as to give as long a season of 

 growth as possible. Large plants that have 

 been transplanted and had their roots reduced 

 or injured in the process, have a better chance 

 of recovering if the top-growth is reduced at 

 the same time. 



An important item in the treatment of 

 Rhododendrons and Azaleas is the removal 

 of all the trusses as soon as the flowers are 

 past, and before seed begins to form. Seed- 

 bearing is a useless drain upon the plants, and 

 greatly reduces the vigour of the season's 

 growth, and, as a matter of course, the next 

 year's supply of bloom. If seed is required for 

 sowing, it should remain on the shrubs till the 

 frosts slightly burst the capsules. It is scarcely 

 ripe before. 



Propagation is, as a rule, effected by grafting 

 — in the case of Rhododendrons on R. ponticum- 

 and P. catawbiense. These stocks are admirably 

 adapted to the garden varieties so long as the 

 suckers they so freely produce are removed. 

 Except in the case of standards, a close watch 

 is needed. Grafted Rhododendrons neglected 

 vol t. 



for some years will very frequently be almost 

 or quite smothered by the stock on which they 

 have been worked. Azaleas are grafted on 

 A. pontica (flava), and suckers do not seem 

 to be so troublesome. They should be raised 

 from seed more than they are in private 

 gardens. Both can be increased by means of 

 layers. The process, however, is a slow one, 

 a layer requiring about two years to form 

 sufficient roots to maintain a separate exist- 

 ence. Plants of Rhododendrons so raised are 

 naturally more expensive to buy, but they 

 are undoubtedly the cheaper in the end. A 

 good deal may be done in one's own garden by 

 layering the low outer branches of good sorts. 



Rhododendrons for the Greenhouse. 

 — A considerable number of species of Rhodo- 

 dendron are too tender to be grown out-of- 

 doors in Great Britain, and even some of those 

 which are hardy in the warmer parts are, as a 

 rule, happiest when grown under glass. The 

 Himalayan species generally only just miss 

 being hardy with us, a glass structure without 

 artificial heat providing sufficient protection for 

 them in any part of these islands. 



The large species, such as R. Falconeri, R. 

 Griffithianum, R. arboreum, and R. grancle (argen- 

 teum), may be grown in large pots or tubs, but 

 they are less likely to fall into ill-health when 

 they are planted in a properly -prepared bed of 

 peaty soil. This is also true of the smaller 

 species, which, however, are preferred when 

 grown in pots, as they can be easily moved 

 indoors and out as the seasons change. The 

 cultural directions given for hardy Rhododen- 

 drons may be followed for all the Himalayan 

 species and hybrids grown under glass 



The most serviceable species are R, arboreum, 

 R. barbatum, R. campylocarpum, R. ciliafum, R. 

 cinnabarinum, R. Dalhousice, R. Edgeivorthii, R. 

 Falconer i, R, formosum, R. fid gens, R. grande, 

 R. Griffithianum, R. Maddeni, R. niveum, R. Xut- 

 tallii, R. Thomsoni, and R. Veitchiamnn. 



Many hybrids have been obtained from these ; 

 the best of them are Kewense, Manglesii, Shihoni, 

 Countess of Haddington, Countess of Sefton, Henrij- 

 anum, Victorianum, Princess A lice, fragra n tissimu m, 

 Sesterianum, precox, edenense, and Forsterianum. 



Another section of the genus to be noticed 

 here is the javanico-mai 'a>/an inn species and their 

 numerous progeny, which have been hybridized 

 with most valuable results by Messrs. J. Yeitch 

 & Sons. The species used as breeders were R. 

 Teysmanni, R. jasmin iff or inn, R. jaranicum, R. 

 Brookeianum, R. multicolor, and R. mo.lawnum. 



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