PEAT-LOVING SHRUBS 



Rhododendrons. — Of peat-loving shrubs these take the 

 foremost place, being met with in this country in far 

 greater numbers than any others having a liking for a 

 similar soil. R. ponticum, introduced over one hundred 

 years ago, has been largely planted, and is by far the 

 commonest kind, but in beauty does not compare with 

 many of the species and hybrids that have since come 

 into notice. About eighty years ago seeds of the fine 

 R. arboreum were imported, a species that attains a height 

 of forty feet on the Himalayas. The type bears pink 

 flowers, and there is also a beautiful white form. In 

 the south-west these will grow to a height of twenty- 

 five feet. The hybridising of Rhododendrons has been 

 diligently carried on for many years, and a large number 

 of beautiful varieties have resulted from the crosses. 

 Rhododendrons, as a race, have an extended season of 

 bloom, commencing with R. Nobleanum venustum, which 

 begins its display in October in southern Cornwall, and 

 ending with the June-flowering R. Nuttallii and R. Dal- 

 housia. Some of the finest species are R. Falconerl with 

 enormous leaves, perfecting its white flowers in May — 

 a specimen in Cornwall is twenty-two feet in height. 

 R. Aucklandii, now styled Griffithianum, bearing large 

 pure white flowers five inches in diameter, R. barbatum 

 and R. Thompsoni with deep red blooms, R. campy locarpum 

 with pale-yellow, R.fulgens, bright red, R. campanulatum, 

 pale pink, and R. ciliatum, flesh-white, dwarf. Many of 

 the Rhododendrons are too tender for out-door culture 

 except in the warmest localities of England and Ireland, 

 56 



