THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE, 
323 
so as to allow a large body of soil between, and this should consist 
of peat and broken stone and sand in about equal proportions. 
Mere crevices that the hand could explore are of no use at all ; they 
should be deep enough to hold a man by the leg if his foot slipped 
into one, and should open below into beds of broken stone and peat 
and sand, and be filled with the same sort of mixture. Having 
made a good rockery with a northern aspect for coolness, it will 
be desirable to ensure a regular dribbling of water all over it from 
May to August, not indeed to keep it flooded or boggy, for the 
drainage should be perfect, and the dribbling constant, but to keep 
the whole mass of rock and soil moist, for the roots of these shrubs 
are never dry in their own mountain gardens. Wo cannot create 
an alpine climate, and the more we see of alpine plants under 
cultivation, the more thoroughly convinced we are that the question 
of climate is of comparatively little consequence ; but we can shut 
out from them the meridian beams of the midsummer sun, and 
ensure to their roots, all the summer long, the kindly moisture 
which is so essential to their well-doing. 
The following is a list of alpine shrubs that require the same 
treatment as the alpine rose, and are worthy to be associated with 
it as gems of “ purest ray serene.” To plant them on a little 
rockery would be murder — they want light, and space, and air, and a 
good body of peaty soil. Andromeda tetragona, Azalea amaena, 
Calluna vulgaris fl. pi., Cotoneaster thgmifolia, Gytisus sessiUfolius, 
Daphne alpina, Empetrum nigrum, Genista tinctoria fl. pi., Heli- 
anthemum vulgare in variety, they do well iu shade, but better in 
the fullest sunshine ; Menziesia polifolia, Polggala chamcehuxus, 
Duscus hypoglossum, Salix reticulata, Vacdnium amcenum, V. ovatum, 
and V. stamineum. S. H. 
RHODODENDEOH VENUSTA.— EAELT ELOWERING 
EHODODENDEONS. 
U ask for information respecting the Rhododendron 
Venusta. I believe it to be a distinct species ; and I 
am acquainted with two varieties. I first saw the 
Venusta flowering in a friend’s drawing-room in March, 
1845. It had been purchased from Messrs. Lucombe 
& Pince, near Exeter ; and from their nursery was immediately 
procured the parent plant now growing at Ashbury. The foliage is 
of a dull green, the underside brown, and often curled back at the 
edges. The flower opens rose-colour, and turns paler in a day or 
two. The time of flowering varies with the season, and is very pro- 
tracted — some years beginning in November, and ending early in 
May. I have known it in full beauty at Christmas, and any time 
through January and February, generally with the snowdrops. It 
is often spoilt with a single night’s frost ; yet, even after continuous 
frost and snow, a few days’ thaw is sufficient to bring forth the buds 
fit for cutting and opening in water. 
November. 
