660 
Jane 18, 1892. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
A VISIT TO CLAREMONT. 
The committee of gardeners of Kingston and 
Surbiton, who recently conducted a successful 
concert at the former place in aid of the Gardeners' 
Orphan Fund, upon the invitation of Mr. E. Burrell 
and with the sanction of H.R.H. the Duchess of 
Albany, paid a visit to Claremont, Esher, on the 
afternoon of Friday last. The party enjoyed a very 
delightful ride through the beautiful country which 
intervenes between Kingston and Claremont, being 
conveyed in a large brake which had been chartered 
by the secretary, Mr. A. Dean, who also furnished 
the needful comestibles. 
Reaching the royal demesne about 3 p.m , the 
party were taken through the various glass-houses 
and kitchen gardens first, therf took tea together with 
Mr. and Mrs. Burrell and family, under what is 
perhaps the noblest tree of its kind, a magnificent 
spreading Pterocarya caucasica, which has a 
breadth of some 80 feet, and stands on a lawn near 
the gardener's house. After having thus rested and 
refreshed, the splendid pleasure grounds were visited, 
and these fully justified the term applied by one of 
the visitors that they “ resembled a scene from fairy¬ 
land, or a portion of paradise.” The visit was 
well timed to see the myriads of gigantic clumps of 
Rhodedendrons in the grounds at their best, and 
although these consist chiefly of the soft mauve 
purple tinted Ponticum, yet it would seem as if other 
and gaudier kinds would in such a scene have been 
an improper introduction. 
The fine mansion, built by Vanbrugh, is of the 
Grecian style of architecture, and is a bold though 
somewhat bald building. It commands some grand 
views as well as much of the surrounding grounds. 
These are remarkable for their lofty elevations, dells, 
glades, and undulations, for their noble and varied 
trees, the wealth of evergreen shrubs, the numerous 
and beautiful views of the surrounding country seen 
from them, and for the great capacity shown in the 
laying out of such a situation which must be 
regarded as amongst the finest efforts of that great 
landscapist Capability Brown. The party were 
led up a steep incline just after passing the mansion, 
to a lofty quadrangular tower built probably as an 
observatory and landmark in 1714. The first 
floor of this building is now used as a gymnasium 
for the royal children. From its summit the out¬ 
look is singularly varied and beautiful, and well was 
the exercise in reaching it repaid. 
Thence, a little farther on, stands a large Camellia 
house, quite alone, but having in it two large clumps 
of trees, some fifty years planted, and which are in 
the rudest of health, and bloom superbly every year. 
Fronting this house is an elevated terrace, down 
from which the onlooker gazes into vistas of beauty 
below, that command the warmest admiration. The 
noble trees, the masses of evergreens, the extreme 
wealth of bloom all serve to create what could hardly 
be characterised as other than lovely scenes. Then 
on through the masses of the shrubs, amidst which 
run numerous soft grassy glades, the visitors came 
upon the pretty Gothic memorial chapel erected in 
honour of the mourned Princess Charlotte, who was 
regarded as the heiress to the throne of Great 
Britain, and died at Claremont soon after her 
marriage to Prince Leopold of Belgium. This is a 
singularly pretty building and stands on a high 
elevation, from which again were obtained other 
views of the foreground and lake in the distance, 
so beautiful as to excite the liveliest admiration, ex¬ 
celling all other previous scenes for floral beauty, 
variation of outline, and vegetable luxuriance. 
Then passing by devious ways amidst the huge 
clumps of bloom on every hand the party, conducted 
by Mr. Burrell and the courteous house steward, were 
led round by the charming lake, thence through 
other glades, rich with noble trees, to the mansion 
again, thence back to the gardener's house, whence, 
after an hour's rest and some needful refreshment, 
they set out on their return home, loud in praise 
of all they had seen, of the exceeding kindness and 
hospitality shown them, and of the delightful nature 
of the outing they had enjoyed. 
The glass-houses show in the vineries abundant 
crops of Black Hamburgh, Foster’s Seedling, Mrs. 
Pince's Black Muscat, Lady Downes, Gros Colmar, 
and Alicante Grapes. There are capital crops of 
Peaches and Nectarines in other houses, and very 
good crops on the walls outside, and also of Cherries, 
Cucumbers, Melons, Tomatos, etc.—all doing finely 
and carrying heavy crops. On the back of a long, 
low house, devoted to Tomatos now, is a row of 
Bougainvillea glabra, the which could hardly be 
excelled for beauty or for robust growth. The 
kitchen gardens are extensive and well cropped. 
William Hurst, first early Pea, is fruiting abundantly. 
Gooseberries on trellises are fruiting freely also. In 
the surrounding grounds are several fine specimens 
of the “ Jamaica Coffee trees," also a fine one of the 
Maidenhair tree, Salisburia adiantifolia, beautiful in 
its characteristic leafage ; and also of the Virginia 
Bay, Sassafras officinale. 1 he gardens at Claremont 
are always delightful, but perhaps never more lovely 
than early in June. 
THE INTERNATIONAL HORTICUL¬ 
TURAL EXHIBITION. 
The Rhododendrons. 
Some of the larger beds in the open air gardens at 
Earl’s Court are very appropriately filled with Rho¬ 
dodendrons. Owing to the large number of varieties 
in each bed a full display at any one time could not 
be expected. Some are early, others late, and as 
some are only yet in bud a continuous display has 
been the result. Messrs H. Lane & Son, Berkham- 
stead, have done the planting in the middle garden, 
where some very beautiful varieties may be noted. We 
were particularly struck with one having pink flowers 
with a broad almost carmine edge. A semi-double 
or hose-in-hose lilac variety was very floriferous. 
Others are pink, rose, or white, more or less spotted 
or blotched on the upper segment. A large undu¬ 
lating bed in the western garden was planted by 
Messrs. Wm. Paul & Son, Waltham Cross. Here 
again the range of colours was considerable. A 
crimson-red variety was notably conspicuous, as well 
as a dwarf blush-coloured sort having a large crim¬ 
son blotch on the upper segment. The dry spring 
and the unusually dry weather of last week has been 
very prejudicial to recently-moved Rhododendrons. 
In the main building the beds are chiefly made up 
of Palms, Conifers, and various flowering shrubs, 
but the plants surrounding the margins of the beds 
are renewed from time to time with flowering plants 
in season. At present Rhododendrons constitute a 
great part of the display, and having been grown in 
pots they have not been influenced prejudically by 
the dry weather. Several beds are garnished or 
brightened in this way by Messrs. B. S. Williams & 
Son, Upper Holloway, who have used Indian Azaleas 
and hardy Rhododendrons. A variety of the latter 
with pale purple flowers and a black blotch is fine, 
as are some others with rose and mauve flowers, the 
latter having a large crimson blotch. A narrow 
horse-shoe shaped bed is entirely filled with Indian 
Azaleas and hardy Rhododendrons. Four beds are 
furnished by Messrs. Wm. Cutbush& Son, Highgate. 
Some of the varieties are very pretty, such as those 
with large, intense rose flowers, rose with a carmine 
edge, and white with a greenish-yellow blotch, and 
floriferous. The variety named Oculatum nigrum is 
characterised by a blackish-crimson blotch on a soft 
purple ground. 
Some little time ago two large beds were edged 
with Roses in pots by Mr. C. Turner, Slough. 
Rhododendrons are now the leading feature, and 
most of the varieties are of very choice kinds, par¬ 
ticularly a large rose sort with a pale yellow blotch. 
A curious arrangement of colours is seen in a sort 
with white flowers and a black blotch, while the 
buds are of a deep lilac just before expansion 
Insectivorous Plants. 
Some time ago we stated that a house was to be fitted 
up and filled with insectivorous plants by Messrs. 
B. S. Williams & Son, Upper Holloway, in the 
grounds of the Horticultural Exhibition. This 
has been done and filled in a most attractive way 
with various subjects independently of the insecti¬ 
vorous plants. In the centre is a piece of rock work 
built of Derbyshire tufa with a fountain in the middle. 
The rockwork is furnished with a great variety of 
plants, including Vriesia hieroglyphica, Caladiums, 
Anthuriums, Ferns, and Ficus repens. 
The Nepenthes suspended from the roof include 
N. Mastersiana, N. Rafflesiana, and N. Hookeriana. 
Other plants of this class are Darlingtonia cali- 
fornica, Drosera capensis, D. dichotoma, Sarracenia 
Chelsoni, S. Maddisoniana, and various others, most 
of which have just made their young leaves but are 
not yet very highly coloured. 
Several groups of Venus fly-trap (Dionaea musci- 
pula) are distributed round the sides of the house 
and protected by means of large bell-glasses. Many 
of them are in bloom, while all appear to be in robust 
health making young leaves. They constitute a 
source of attraction to visitors as the house is nearly 
always filled during the afternoon. Around the 
sides of the house a fine collection of Orchids in 
bloom adds much to the general appearance of the 
whole. They include a large piece of Cymbidium 
Lowianum, Vanda tricolor, V. suavis, Miltonias, 
Cattleyas, Lselias, and Dendrobiums. A case of the 
fine leaved Bertolonias and Sonerillas also add a 
feature to the house. 
-- 
AZALEODENDRONS. 
Notwithstanding the affinity between Azaleas and 
Rhododendrons, and which has now been established 
for many years in this country, the two names are 
still kept up in gardens, and will be for many years 
to come. Botanically speaking, no generic difference 
can be shown to exist between the so-called Azalea 
indica and Rhododendron ponticum. L'Illustration 
Horticole has an article on some new hybrids between 
Azalea mollis and hardy Rhododendrons, presumably 
the garden hybrids of R. ponticum, R. catawabiense 
and others. In spite of the recognised botanical 
affinities of the two kinds, M. Emile Rodigas does 
not hesitate to form a new genus, namely, Azaleo- 
dendron, compounded of the names of the two parent 
genera, according to the rules of the new nomencla¬ 
ture. 
It is no new fact to state that Rhododendrons and 
Azaleas will readily hybridise with one -another, for 
that was demonstrated by the Rev. Dean Herbert 
many years ago, and who was the first to show that 
no valid distinction existed between the so-called 
species of Rhododendron and Azalea. The hybridist 
in the present case was M. Gustave Vander Meulen, 
of Ghent, one of the veterans of Ghent horticulture, 
and who is now on the point of retiring from business 
and wishes to give up his stock of plants. M. E. 
Rodigas considers that several of the hybrids are 
extremely distinct, but says that the flowers have the 
fault, if it may be considered one, that they 
are smaller than those of their pollen parents, 
namely, Rhododendron Prince Camille de Rohan and 
Leopard. 
He describes four of them, one of which has lively 
violet-rose flowers, pale towards the sinus of the 
lobes, which are imbricated ; the upper lobe is 
marked with numerous brown spots, and the back of 
the flower is of a uniform hue except that all the 
principal nerves are of a darker hue. Another type 
has fleshy carmine rose flowers, the centre being 
darker ; the dark brown spots marking the upper 
lobe are disposed in rows along the secondary nerves. 
The reverse of the flower is lively rose and more 
highly coloured along the nerves. The third type 
has flowers no larger than those of Azalea amoena. 
They are creamy white with a beautiful rosy lilac 
margin. The lobes are fringed on the margin, and 
the pistil lilac all over the summit. The whole 
corolla, however, is puny. The fourth type has 
white flowers margined with a lively flamed rose, 
which is darkest at the sinus of the lobes. The 
external face is darker, and the style is rose. A 
leading feature of these hybrids is that the pistil is 
greatly elongated as in the Rhododendrons. 
The same horticulturist has effected a reciprocal 
cross, that is, he fecundated the flowers of Rhodo¬ 
dendron with pollen of the Azaleas. In this case 
the seedlings obtained are less varied. The pistils 
are very short as in Azalea. Pollen is very scarce 
in the hybrids and sometimes entirely absent. The 
colours of the novelties are also rather fugacious. 
Besides, the plants obtained from Azalea mollis 
fertilised by Rhododendrons are more delicate than 
the seed parent itself. .They easily withstand 
ordinary winters, and preserve their foliage, but in 
such a winter as that of 1890 and 1891, the foliage 
mostly drops. The flowering period, however, is 
the same as that of the seed parent. But when 
the plants are placed in a temperate house after the 
first cold or frosty weather, they flower freely in four 
or five weeks. 
These hybrids have, moreover, great merit, 
especially when grafted upon Rhododendron stocks. 
By this means the)' can be completely pruned, 
leaving only the strong wood, and in spite of ths 
pruning, all the shoots of the season form buds and 
flower as well as if the plant had not been subjected 
to pruning. M. G. Vander Meulen has grafted these 
hybrids both upon Rhododendron ponticum and 
Azalea mollis, with successful results in both cases, 
but R. ponticum as a stock has given the best results. 
