540 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 2, 1904. 
in, very large trusses. Mrs. Tom, Agnew is also a pure white 
flower with a lemon-yellow blotch produced on bushes ol ex¬ 
cellent habit. A shade darker is that named Minnie, which is 
practically white, overlaid with a delicate blush tint, contrast 
ing handsomely with a, large blotch made up of an arrangement 
of spots', such as frequently occurs in varieties owing their 
origin to Rhododendron catawbiensa Few plants are' more) 
striking than this variety in an exhibition group, where the; 
large eye-like blotches catch thei eye at once. Amongst 
numerous varieties that may be' placed her e' is a. splendid white 
variety, George Hardy, the blooms of which are arranged in 
trusses as large as the best of the ponticum type, brands B. 
Hayes has its white flowers ornamented with black spots', thus 
making a very striking and agreeable contrast. Another beau¬ 
tiful-spotted variety is Baroness' Henry Schroder, which would 
also 1 come into that section characterised by a beautiful 
arrangement of spots on, a white ground. 
There are those wffio- favour dark flowers, and amongst these 
eve should have no hesitation in placing' M illiarn Austin, with 
dark crimson flowers, arranged in elegant trusses and ahum 
dantly produced. Rose flowers- are also very striking in, collec¬ 
tions when placed under artificial light, because they show up* 
even better. One of these is William Ewart Gladstone, pro¬ 
ducing flowers in huge trusses. Many people in, recent years 
have taken, to- the forcing of Rhododendrons for early work, 
and they certainly produce striking effects amongst the ordi¬ 
nary inmates 1 of the conservatory, but undoubtedly the finest 
flowers are those which are produced naturally in, June. Quite 
a distinct colour in its way isi Baron Schroder. The flowers- 
might be described a,s plum-coloured, marked at the base of the 
upper segments with yellow, and whatever the taste of the 
planter may be, there can be no question .about the distinctive¬ 
ness of this- variety from any of the above named. Earl of 
Shannon is another dark variety, with rich crimson flowers of a 
good outline. The beauty of Rhododendrons can he well seen by 
contrast, and these dark varieties are certainly calculated to 
bring out the good points of such as Duchess; of Connaught, 
with" white flowers variegated on the upper segments with 
a group- of lemon-coloured spots. This also produces trusses- of 
wonderful size. 
Frederick Waterer makes a hue- bush, as, in addition to the 
fiery crimson flowers-, the foliage is very handsome and serves 
to- set off the flowers. The latter are very large and produced 
in fine trusses. The- delicate b-lush flo-wers of John Henry 
Agnew are set off with cho-co-late spots. Another fine habited 
hush is that, named John Walter, with rich crimson flowers of 
excellent form. A profuse flo-wering variety is John Waterer, 
having large flower's' of a s-plendid form, and of a, rich glowing 
carmine. On the other hand, those of Kate Waterer are of a 
clear rosy crimson,, and rendered most, distinct by the large- 
yello-w blo-tcli on, the- upper side- of the flower. The crimson; 
spots of Lady Eleanor Cathoart- are arranged in a, large blotch, 
and serve- to set- off the beauty of the clear ro-se flower's-. 
Edged flowers are not numerous, but we have a very hand¬ 
some- variety in Lady Clementina, Walsh, the- delicately- 
coloured blossoms of which are edged with pink. Very strik¬ 
ing is- the contrast produced by Lord Eversley, which has glow¬ 
ing scarlet crimson flowers, with an arrangement of black spots 
on one side of the flo-wer. Somewhat o-n a par with the aho-ve 
is the splendid variety Michael Waterer, having lively scarlet, 
crimson flowers of excellent- form. The habit c-f this bush is 
also go-o-d. Quite- another shade is Mrs. Holfo-rd, with salmon- 
crimson flo-wers- o-f goo-d form and produced o-n- a bush o-f regular 
and close habit. Mrs. John Penn -has a charming lake edging 
to the blossoms, which are otherwise possessed of a s-almo-n- 
pink hue. Another grand Rhododendron that cannot be- oveir- 
lo-o'ked is Mrs-. John, Waterer, which produces splendid trusses 
of blooms- of a bright rosy crimson,. 
Clearly the hardy Rhododendrons continue to undergo- a 
marked improvement from year to year, because although the 
seedlings take some time to- reach the flowering stage, there 
are always a large number coming on, in succes ion. The 
whole race is evidently continuing to- increase in popular 
favour, and while that continues the- raisers will always be 
on the alert to- meet the wants with improvements upon old 
varieties'. Some of those in cultivation twenty o-r thirty years 
ago are still sufficiently interesting to merit attention on 
account of their singular beauty. Few admirers of the Rhodo¬ 
dendron, however, would continue to grow 11. ponticum except 
for nie-re co-vert in the wo-eds. At the same time, where this 
grand race of flowers- succeeds, it- is wort-li while, replacing the 
more common sorts on the edges of the- woods and in o-ther 
places- coming under the eye with some o-f the- splendid modem 
improvements. From another point of view, seeing that Rho¬ 
dodendrons take so readily to transplanting, it would be well 
worth the trouble to- remove even those- in the vicinity of houses,, 
relegating them to the less- kept parts of the estate, and intro¬ 
ducing so-me o-f the large flowering varieties to the beds and 
shrubberies- in the immediate neighbourhood of the- mansion. 
Many admirers of Khododendr'onsi would plant them, hut 
they have been under the- impression that it requires peat to 
grow them. This is altogether a mistake, so that in districts 
where- peat is difficult and oo-s-tly t-o obtain the cultivator can 
s;o- ameliorate his so-il that Rhododendrons will grow admirably. 
We have frequently observed that an important point in con¬ 
nection with the soil is- that, it should be fairly moist during 
the summer season, so- as t-o- retain the vigour of the foliage- and 
help- the duration o-f the- flo-wers. An aid to them from this 
point of view Avo-uld he- to- select situations no-t- fully exposed 
to- the summer sun. This, applies more particularly to--the 
southern, than to the northern, counties, where- the rainfall is 
naturally heavier, and where they succeed almost, anywhere! 
except in- dry gravel. Where- any attention is given to the 
improvement o-f the- natural staple c-f the soil, it would be we’l 
to avoid lime and chalk in any form. In, cases where the soil h 
extremely heavy and inclined to- crack during droughty 
periods, it would vastly improve the so-il to- add leaf inoulc 
largely, and this can be increased from year to- year by mean- 
o-f top-dressings- at- almost- any time of the year. 
The Edelweiss. 
I am sending you a, flower of Edelweiss from a riant sh 
years- old, and should like to- give- your correspondent A 
Lange ” some information how we- grow t-liis plant- here. Wt 1 
treat- it- a-s a- quite- hardy perennial. The seeds are- sown ea-rh 
in February in boxes- or pans with sandy so-il and then put 
outdoors and left undisturbed. Generally, the seeds germinati 
from the; end of March to the middle of April. In this state 
the seedlings need to be carefully handled or they soon wil 
damp- off or dry off. As soon as large enough they an 
planted out 2 in. apart in a compost of leaf-mould, sand, ant 
mossy soil. As a, substitute peat can be used instead o-f the 
latter. In June the plants will be large- enough to- be pottecj 
singly in I-in. pots- or t-o- be planted o-ut in the rock garden 
or border. The- soil now employed is the same as before 
adding some fine broken mortar and brick rubbish. Without 
such chalky rubbish the plants and flowers- will never bt 
quite snowy-white, but a dirty greenish-white. We alway- 
plant the Edelweiss on a southern exposure where the plant- 
get- all the -sup, hut give them o-n dry days- a good soaking ol 
water. On the Alps the Edelweiss is very seldom found on sj 
northern- expo-sure o-r in a moist- location, b-ut on chalky anc 
grassy mountain slope's with a southern aspect. On the 
south side c-f a mountain the Edelweiss may be plentiful, yet 
on the- very same slope t-o the east or north not a single plant 
is to be found.—R., Switzerland, in “ The American Florist.” 
Gardenia Florida commenced flowering on the hillsides c-i 
Hong Kong about the middle of May. These, of course, are 
wild, not cultivated, plants. It is not valued for its scent in 
China, as the Chinaman gives his verdict of it as “ Too smell, 
that is, it has too much smell to please John’s sense of smell. 
