4 
KELSEY'S HARDY AMERICAN RHODODENDRONS 
American Rhododendrons 
The Amevican Native Rlioilodemlrons are at last coiiiiiig into their own. Being absohitely 
hardy as far north as Quebec they assure success where the half-hardy hybrids have so often proved 
a failure. Even where "hybrids" are used the dark foliaged American species sliould form the 
main background. 
Rhododendron carolinianum. A new American species. Clear pink. Absolutely hardy. This is one of our 
finest introductions and fills a lonif-felt want for a hardy dwarf Rhododendron with llowers free from 
any hint of magenta. It was described and named by Alfred Itehder, of the Arnold Arboretum. It 
is the smallest AllcKhanian species, attaininie: a height of 6 to 8 feet in cultivation. The thick set leaves 
arc dark green, usually blunt and narrow, covered with rusty dots below, much smaller than either mar- 
iinum or catuwbiensc. Flower-clusters appear in greatest profusion in June, coverinK the plant with 
a rose-colored mantle. Fine for rocky slopes or hillsides, standing exposure unusually well and invalu- 
able as a single specimen or for massing. 
Rhododendron catawbiense. Of the Carolina mountains. The hardiest of all Rhododendrons. It was this 
magnificent Rhododendron that over a hundred years ago was introduced into Kurope, supplying, together 
with Hhodoilfitdroii maximum, color and hardy blood to the cultivated "hybrids," but with a consequent 
loss of hardiness: and so today, for American gardens, where ironclad hardiness is essential, we must turn 
to the true original species, found on the loftiest, coldest peaks of the southern Alleghanies, where it at- 
tains a height of 20 to 30 feet. Considering the extreme hardiness, color of flower, compact growth, and 
remarkable texture of foliage, which is a deep, shining green, and far superior to the better-known Rhu- 
dodendron maximum, we can recommend the true native catawbiense as the finest for general use. with- 
standing exposure and extremes of temperature where other Khixiodcndrons fail. Unlike Uhndodendron 
maximum, it is a very free bloomer, with foliage of a dark, rich, lasting green, which never rusts. The 
trusses are a bright red-purple (in marked contrast to the muddy purple of the semi-hardy, half-breed 
imported variety), and as .sent out by Highlands Nursery is always on its own roots. For massing to pro- 
duce a hro,id-leaved evergreen land.scape ofl'ect, there is no plant equal to it in the latitude of the north- 
ern United States and Canada, where strictly hardy plants must be employed. 
Rhododendron maximum or Great American Rosebay is without doubt the noblest of American broad-leaved 
shrubs. It is found growing sparingly in New England and New York, more abundantly in the Pennsyl- 
vania mountains, but reaching perfection only in the southern Alleghany mountains, where it grows in 
such luxuriance as to form a striking feature in the mountain landscape. Its large, waxy white or deli- 
cately pink flowers appear in large trusses in July, the latest of all the Rhn<lixlendrons. greatly enhancing 
its ornamental value as a bread-leaved evergreen for finished landscape effect. 
Not even in Asia do lihododendrons grow more luxuriantly than in our southern Alleghany Mountains, 
where they attain a height of :iO feet or more. They must be seen in their native lavishness of growth 
and bloom on the mountain-sides or hanging over the dashing ice-cold streams and waterfalls, to be prop- 
erly appreciated, and a trip to the high Carolina mountains in spring and early summer is a never-to-be- 
forgottenlseries of joys to.the lover of nature. 
Rhododendron maximum. White, sonictimes shaded a delicate blush. 
