RHODODENDRONS 
3 
and R. catawhiense. No doubt the development of open-air 
gardening which took place in this country in the latter half 
of last century had a quickening influence on the spread of 
the Rhododendron. It then became the fashion to plant 
collections of hardy trees and shrubs, more especially ever- 
greens, in large gardens and parks, and whilst many of the 
plants that were tried then have since gone out of cultiva- 
tion or out of favour. Rhododendrons have proved to be 
by far the most valuable of all hardy evergreen flowering 
shrubs ever introduced. 
English nurserymen have done much to foster a love of 
hardy plants. This is to be commended, because far more 
pleasure is derived from the cultivation of plants in the open 
air, where all the conditions are approximately natural, than 
from the most elaborate arrangement for gardening under 
glass. Rhododendrons contribute largely to the pleasures of 
the garden in God's own greenhouse." They are present- 
able at all times, far more so than many of the leafy ever- 
greens which are so commonly planted as garden furniture, 
and which never look different from year's end to year's end. 
Take as an example the common R, ponticum. We have no 
shrub to equal it, either as a hardy evergreen which stands 
town smoke ; as a park shrub for planting in masses to serve 
as a screen or to furnish a pleasing object in the landscape ; 
to provide shelter and cover for game ; to clothe large areas 
with evergreen foliage ; or to help to fill a shrubbery. The 
habit of the plant, the healthy green of its shapely foliage, 
and its hardy constitution are all very good qualities in an 
evergreen. To these there is still to be added the beauty 
of its flowers. It may be faddish to say so, but I am not 
alone in the opinion that R. ponticum, when happily situated 
in a wood or as a large bold mass on the grass in the open, 
is, when in flower, the most effective of all Rhododendrons. 
