April 13, i 9 ° 7 * 
THE GARDEN 1 HQ WORLD. 
2 55 
Rhododendron delicatissimum. Maclaren id Sons. 
Chrysanthemums 
. . . Work for April. 
A STANDARD - 
Rhododendron. 
(Rhododendron delicatissimum). 
Those who are fond of Rhododendrons 
in d have only a garden of moderate size 
0 gratify their pleasure as a home 
or a variety of plants may still have 
L standard Rhododendron on the lawn. 
This plant being evergreen has some- 
hing to recommend it ail the year round. 
iy making a circular bed of moderate 
limensions, taking out the natural soil to 
1 depth of 2ft. to 214ft., and filling it up 
vith peat or a compost of peat, leaf mould 
tnd the ordinary garden soil he can then 
lave a medium in which a Rhododendron 
vould thrive even in a small garden. The 
red itself may be planted with bulbs for 
ipring flowering, and later be filled up 
vith some other subjects to maintain a 
aright appearance during the summer 
nonths. 
The accompanying' illustration will give 
m idea of a standard Rhododendron, 
hough the one here depicted w'as of un- 
asual size and the lower branches came 
down almost to the ground. Rhododen¬ 
drons may, however, be grown for many 
rears carrying their head aloft and .eav- 
ing space underneath well lighted and 
suitable for plants. 
The specimen in question formed part 
of the exhibition of Rhododendrons 
planted out by Messrs. John Waterer and 
Sons, Ltd., American Nurseries, Bagshot, 
in the Royal Botanic Society’s Gardens 
last June. " The specimen was 8ft: to qft. 
high, and slightly higher than wide. The 
flowers were widely bell-shaped, open, and 
of a delicate silvery pink with a group of 
greenish yellow spots on the upper seg¬ 
ments. Not all of the flowers were fully 
expanded when the photograph was taken, 
nevertheless it gives a good idea of a well- 
grown standard Rhododendron. 
- ♦+♦ - 
The 
Maidenhair Tree. 
A Letter 
To the Editor. 
1 Sir,—In The Gardening World for 
March 23rd, on p. 294, a correspondent, 
“A. V. M.,” Wishaw, tells a short story 
about the Maidenhair tree Salisburia 
adiantifolia. A. V. M. states some 
specimens of this beautiful tree run to 80 
feet high in England, yet in Scotland we 
have to be content with a few shoots 
struggling for existence against a wall. 
It would be very interesting to know in 
what part of England A. V. M. refers to. 
I have seen a nice little specimen of the 
Maidenhair tree growing on the open lawn 
in Scotland, aye, in the North of Scot¬ 
land. Ginkgo biloba, however, will not 
grow at all in this part of England. 
Wm. Wyness. 
Lancs., March 22nd, 1907. 
-— 
Gardening Appointment. 
Mr. John M. Troup, who has been fore¬ 
man in Earnock Gardens for the past 4 j 4 
years, has been appointed head gardener 
to T adv Watson, of Earnock, Hamilton. 
The sudden 'advent of spring-like 
weather has in most cases brought a rush 
of work for the gardener, and it is just 
at such times as this that one sees the 
disadvantage of having a larger stock of 
Chrysanthemums than can be properly 
attended to, for on no account must the 
plants that require repotting be neglected, 
or, in warm weather, it will not take many 
davs to entirely spoil their style of growth, 
making them spindling and attenuated, 
instead of robust and sturdy. 
No time must now be lost in getting to¬ 
gether the loam, manures, etc., for the 
final potting, if this has not already been 
done. As pointed out before, the best 
loam is that from the top of an old pas¬ 
ture, although a certain measure of suc¬ 
cess has been obtained with soil procured 
from verv odd places—in some cases bv 
choice. One grower has a fancy for soil 
cut from the sides of ditches, while an¬ 
other likes to have.“fairy ring” plots cut 
up. A very successful exhibitor in cot¬ 
tagers’ classes invariably gathers ant-hills 
for potting soil. As there is little or no¬ 
thing to be said in favour of soil from 
either of these particular situations as a 
potting medium, one may conclude that 
the growers who succeed with them make 
up for the poorness of the potting soil by 
skillful feeding and close attention to other 
details of culture. 
Soil for the final potting is all the better 
for having been mixed ten days o'r so 
before use, and a good compost is made 
by mixing a barrow load of turf soil, 
chopped into pieces about an inch square, 
one peck of fresh horse-droppings sifted, 
one peck of rather rough leaf soil, a 
peck of coarse sand, half a peck of sifted 
mortar rubble, a five-inch potful of sifted 
wood ashes, the same quantity of soot, and 
2lbs. of a good, lasting, artificial fer¬ 
tiliser, soluble, quick-acting artificials 
being the least suitable for the purpose. 
Care must be taken that the whole is well 
mixed without breaking the soil up too 
fine. 
If the weather continues fine and warm 
little difficulty should be experienced in 
getting the plants to produce natural 
breaks, but where this has not occurred 
by a certain time it would be well to pinch 
out the tip of the shoot in order to for¬ 
ward bud-production. Such varieties as 
Leigh Park Wonder, Alafeking Hero, 
J. H. Silsbury, Lady Conyers, Henry 
Perkins. Mrs. A. H. Lee, E. J. Brooks, 
Mrs. R. H. Pearson, W. Jinks, Airs. 
R. C. Pulling, Kathleen Stoop, Airs. Bark¬ 
ley, Alarshal Oyama, Aliss Phillis Chit¬ 
tenden, and Airs. J. Dunn should make a 
break before the third week of April, and 
such of them as'are going on to second 
crown buds will produce a first crown 
bud about the middle of June. Some 
growers pinch the shoots in June to cause 
the plants to produce second crowns, but 
while these are generally right to time, 
the resulting flowers are invariably under¬ 
sized. R. Barnes. 
