io6 ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW 
of the walks leading up to the Azalea Garden proper have been 
bordered by beds of azaleas, making the whole much more extensive. 
The azaleas flower in May, and then present a wonderful feast 
of colour and fragrance. What adds so much to the charm of the 
background of tender shimmering green. The flowers of these azaleas 
range in colour from white and yellow through pink, rose, orange, 
to the richest scarlets and crimsons. They have been produced — 
largely by British gardeners — by crossing and re-crossing to an 
almost endless extent the North American azaleas and the yellow- 
flowered species from Asia Minor. Their needs under cultivation are 
the same as those of rhododendrons. They will not thrive where lime 
or allied substances are present in the earth. They like a cool, moist 
soil and, whilst preferring one of a peaty nature, succeed almost 
as well in a sandy loam enriched by decayed leaves, such as they 
have at Kew. Some fine Asiatic and American magnolias add to 
the attractions of this spot. 
The cultivation of hardy bamboos is one of the most recent develop- 
ments in English horticulture. A few species had been grown in 
gardens as far back as the sixth and seventh decades of 
these plants. The Bamboo Garden at Kew, made in the winter 
of 1891-2, has proved one of the main factors in the popularisation 
of the cultivation of bamboos. The garden is in the form of a 
shallow depression, originally a disused gravel-pit, but enlarged by the 
removal of several thousands of tons of gravel and sand. Two of 
the most necessary things in the cultivation of bamboos are shelter 
and abundant root-moisture, and both were secured by making tills 
garden a few feet below the general level of the ground. The centre 
of the garden is a large pear-shaped bed, 125 feet long by 75 feet 
wide, surrounded by an eight-foot path. Outside this have been 
formed a series of semicircular recesses, the sides of which are held 
up by tree-stumps. Each recess is devoted to a single species of 
bamboo. Given shelter and plenty of moisture, bamboos may be 
said to have had their chief requirements met. The soil should pre- 
ferably be a sandy loam, and an occasional manuring is beneficial. 
scene at Kew is the setting in which it is placed. At 
that season the young unfolding leaves of the fine beeches, 
oaks, and lindens surround the garden with a beautiful 
Bamboo 
Garden. 
the last century, but it was not until about 1890 that 
the attention of gardeners generally began to turn towards 
