58G EVERGREEN TREES AND SHRUBS. 
The Variegated-leaved Box-trees, B s. argentea and B. s. 
aurea^ are, as their names imply, simply marked with white or 
yellow-edged leaves. In the shade these markings are incon- 
spicuous, and in the full sun they have not a healthy appearance, 
so that, on the whole, they are of less value than the un-variegated 
sorts. There is a variegated-leaved boxwood tree in the old 
Bartram garden, south of Philadelphia, which is eighteen feet in 
height, twenty feet in breadth, with a trunk ten inches in diameter, 
the form resembling that of a common apple tree, but with light, 
pendulous spray, and delicate foliage, making altogether a very 
charming small tree. It is probably about a hundred years old. 
The Dwarf or Garden Boxwood, B. s. suffruticosa^ is usually 
seen from six to eighteen inches in height, but grows to a massive 
bush if allowed time for expansion. There is a specimen in the 
grounds of Miss Price, at Germantown, Pa., eight feet in height 
and twelve feet in greatest extension, that is an exquisite mound of 
the richest verdure from the lawn to its crown. No other ever- 
green shrubs form so naturally into smoothly-rounded surfaces, or 
present such a velvety tone of foliage, as old dwarf box-woods. 
They rarely attain their full size, or best tone of color, except where 
partially shaded, and are not quite hardy away from the sea-coast 
north of Philadelphia, though grown with partial success in all the 
northern States, and in Upper Canada. Edgings are made with 
cuttings of one year’s growth, and should be protected at the north 
in winter for many years after they are set. June is the best time 
for trimming them. The dwarf-box forms an exquisite little shrub 
when grown alone, and is planted less than it deserves to be. 
THE RHODODENDRONS. Rhododendron. 
Rhododendrons are indigenous on both continents. They form 
shrubs from one to ten feet in height, the breadth ordinarily about 
equal to the height, with thick, glossy, smooth-edged leaves, of a 
slender elliptical form, three to five inches long. Their flowers are 
borne in terminal clusters close to the leaves, the separate flowers 
varying from one inch to two inches in diameter, and the clusters 
