2-42 
THE HARDY AZALEA. 
yellow Rhododendron, seeds freely, so that 
the popular notion of its being a mule, and 
therefore not yielding seed, is exploded alto- 
gether. That they flourish in the same soil 
and situation is certain ; and that, when once 
planted and growing, they do well under the 
fame treatment, is equally true : therefore, 
the same means that will serve to raise the 
one will do to grow the other. 
The varieties of hardy Azalea which are 
cultivated in gardens, have chiefly, though 
not exclusively,, sprung from three species 
introduced from North America, namely* 
Azalea pontica, nudiflora, and viscosa, the 
former of which is by some botanists called 
Rhododendron flavum, the next R. nadi- 
floruvi, and the latter R. viscosum. Botani- 
eally speaking, those who place these plants 
in the genus Rhododendron are probably cor- 
rect, as the differences between the Rhodo- 
dendrons and Azaleas are too slight for generic 
distinction. 
The Azalea pontica (R. flavum), is a large 
yellow-flowered kind, blooming in May and 
June ; it has given rise to a numerous pro- 
geny of varieties, of almost all shades of 
colouring, from yellow to orange, and white, 
and striped. 
The Azalea nudi flora (R. nudifloriim), 
is smaller than the last, and much more 
various in its sportive qualities ; the varieties 
which flower from April to June include 
scarlet, pink, red, purple, white, striped, and 
various combinations of these and the inter- 
mediate tints. 
The Azalea viscosa (R. viscosimi) is a 
later kind, flowering in the latter end of June 
and in July ; the blossoms are strongly fra- 
grant, and clammy. This, too, has given rise 
to numerous varieties, of various colours. 
Besides the varieties which have naturally 
sprung from these species, very many others, 
some of very distinct characters, have been 
produced by hybridizing, or cross-breeding, 
between them, and also between them and 
some of the evergreen Rhododendrons, and 
also of the other species of Azalea which 
have been introduced. These are now so 
numerous, and so much intermixed, that it is 
useless to separate them ; neither, as new 
varieties are constantly being produced, would 
a list of their names, or of a selection from 
them, be of any material use. They should 
be seen when in flower, and the varieties then 
selected. The great American nurseries in 
the neighbourhood of Bagshot and Woking, 
in Surrey, afford a rich floral treat through 
the blooming months ; and the inhabitants of 
the metropolis and other parts will also have 
an opportunity of witnessing a magnificent 
display of them in the gardens of the Royal 
Botanic Society in the Regent's Park, where 
an exhibition of them on an extensive scale 
is to take place during the blooming season, 
namely, in May and June. 
FOBMING THE BEDS. 
The space to be occupied by the Azalea, 
whether in its young or matured state, must 
be well drained ; experience has proved this 
over and over again, although they want 
plenty of moisture while blooming and grow- 
ing. But drained ground is not necessarily 
dried ground ; for the very fact of giving the 
water a free current instead of allowing it to 
be stagnant, increases the fertilizing qualities 
of land instead of taking anything away. 
The land being drained, dig out the whole 
space two feet deep, or at least eighteen 
inches. The best plan is to do this in four 
feet widths the whole length of the ground, 
leaving the natural soil eighteen inches wide 
between these beds or slips. These spaces 
are to be filled with three parts turfy peat 
from a common, full of the fibrous half-de- 
composed vegetation, broken into small pieces, 
and one part loam from rotted turves off a 
meadow. This compost is to be well mixed 
together, and the beds filled with it and six 
inches above the surface, left to settle down, 
as it will naturally lay light at first. The 
beds thus made up are to be allowed to settle 
down tolerably solid. 
PLANTING THE AZALEA. 
According to the size of the plants you 
must manage your distances from each other. 
When collections are purchased, they are 
generally one year old from the layers ; and 
as we propose to give directions for raising 
young plants, we may as well treat these in 
the same way. Small plants, then, may be 
placed a foot apart, that is, four in a row 
across these beds, the outside ones being six 
inches from the path, and the others a foot 
distant from the outside ones ; they will 
have plenty of room for a year or two to 
come ; the rows may also be a foot from each 
other. These plants must be well watered 
in, and the earth settled about their roots. 
When they begin to grow in spring, unless 
there is plenty of rain, let the beds be libe- 
rally watered ; and this must be attended to 
until they make all their growth and set for 
bloom, which they will always do from the 
first year, after being separated from the 
parent plant. When the bloom is set, they 
may have the chance of rain, but no more 
watering. In this way the plants may remain 
until they touch each other, when they must 
be removed to a greater distance, by placing 
them two across the bed, or even three across, 
instead of four. Whenever these plants are 
removed, they ought to be taken up with all 
