PEAT-LOVING SHRUBS 57 



but some of the best may be grown in the open as far 

 north as Scotland, among these being arboreum, bar- 

 batum, ciliatum, campy locarpum, fa/gens, Falconer i and 

 Thompsoni. An ideal spot for Rhododendrons is a dell 

 surrounded by trees which may afford them complete 

 shelter without shading them. Although partial to a 

 peaty soil they will thrive almost equally well in loam 

 and leaf-mould, but lime is fatal to their well-being. 

 Where they are likely to succeed, Rhododendrons of 

 the better kinds should be largely planted in open 

 woods. Many woods are full of R. ponticum. Where 

 this flourishes it should be rooted out by degrees and 

 the better species and hybrids substituted. In a certain 

 wood in the south-west, good Rhododendrons have been 

 largely planted, some being now nearly thirty feet in 

 height. These are being added to year by year. On 

 a sunny spring day the picture presented by these noble 

 bushes in full flower is enchanting. 



Azalea. — The Ghent Azaleas, which are of hybrid 

 origin, with their exquisitely-blending tones ranging 

 from brilliant orange-scarlet through orange, chrome 

 and pale-sulphur to creamy-white, afford materials for 

 many an harmonious colour-scheme on our hills, open 

 valley-slopes, and along the verges of woods and 

 shrubberies. The old Azalea pontica, with small 

 yellow flowers, grows to a large size, a single plant 

 developing into a specimen ten feet in height and 

 twenty-five yards in circumference, giving a charming 

 effect when seen against an evergreen background. A. 

 indica, the popular greenhouse plant, is hardy in the 

 south-west, where it forms large bushes in the open, and 

 even in Sussex grows well and flowers freely in woods. 



Andromeda. — Syns. Pier is and Zenobia. A. fioribunda 

 is a dwarf evergreen shrub covered with white flower- 

 racemes in the spring. A.formosa is of greater stature, 

 reaching a height of twenty feet under favourable con- 



