PARK AND CEMETERY 
103 
AZALEA MOLLIS AND GHENT VARIETIES. 
Azalea mollis and its dose allies the so-called 
Ghent varieties — the latter products of the garden 
and raised from American and Japan varieties — are 
rarely seen in parks and gardens. One reason for 
this is of course their tenderness which at present 
precludes their adaptability to the northern parts of 
the Middle States. It is to be hoped, how'ever that 
varieties of more robust character may in time be 
produced, as they are most certainly a grand ac- 
quisition in the garden. 
are clumps of Phlox divaricata. Beds of the shrubby 
forms of Azalea, together with Rhododendrons were 
also used, but neither of these can compare in 
showiness with the standard varieties of Azalea 
mollis and the Ghent varieties. 
James Jensen. 
RHODODENDRONS. 
Originally the Rhododendrons were separated 
in a botanical sense from Azalea by the former 
having many and inserted and the latter few and 
exserted stamens. But w'ith the comparatively 
.V PLANTING OK .-VZALEA ilOLLIS .AND GHE.N'T VARIETIES. 
The only way to procure a bed of these early 
flowering plants is to remove them every fall to a 
frost-proof cellar, where the temperature is kept a 
little above the freezing point; but even then if not 
carefully handled their life w’ill be of short dura- 
tion. 
One of the things necessary for their welfare is 
a cool, half shady, situation in the garden and 
plenty of water. Care should also be taken to well 
soak the balls in water when planted out in the 
spring, as well as wdien removed to the cellar in the 
fall. 
In the illustration shown, only standard varie- 
t'es were used; they were planted in a bed of ferns 
and they made a grand display for fully four weeks, 
and I do not know of anything that repaid a small 
outlay better. The w’hite flowers in the foreground 
recent introduction of Japanese soils with grada- 
tions between the tw’o this no longer separates them. 
Some botanists separate them by the following 
characters: For Rhododendrons, evergreen foliage 
and clammy-glandular sterna; Azal.as deciduous 
foliage. 
There are eight species ot Rhododendrons 
endemic to the North American continent. In the 
eastern parts of the United States three species are 
common. 
R. Lapponicum, the Lapland Rose Bay, is a low, 
often prostrate shrub, seldom growing over one 
foot in height. Its crimson flowers expandin June, 
July and August. From the higher altitudes of 
the New England mountains it ranges northward to 
Labrador and Greenland and westward to Quebec 
and the northern part of New York. 
