Gardeners’ Chronicle, June \Uh, 1879. 
The hardier varieties of Rhododendrons are, as I write these lines, dazzling 
my eyes with crimson of every hue, to say nothing of the purples and the whites, 
and cry out against any preference for the tenderer sorts. “ Barclayanum,” 
and “ Brayanum,” and “ Blandyanum,” and “ Lady Eleanor Cathcart,” 
and “ Mrs. Holford,” and “ Mrs. Glutton,” and a host of my own seedlings, 
deprecate partiality ; but the Messrs. Waterer and others have done so much to 
popularise these plants, and they are so universally cultivated, that I have pre¬ 
ferred to give precedence to the less familiar, and even more glorious, scented 
species. All sorts and kinds should, however, be kept clearly in view by the 
hybridist, and by those who wish to enjoy Rhododendrons in all their fullness. I 
remember reading, many years ago, of a Miss Walker, of Drumsheugh, near 
Edinburgh, who by combining hardy and tender sorts in her cool conservatory, 
managed to have one Rhododendron at least in bloom there all the year round. 
Her list included fifty species and varieties. 
Miss Walker,* I am told, is dead, and her residence swept away and the site 
built over ; but her example is well worthy of note by Rhododendron growers. 
Since her time what additions have been made to the genus ! 
In prolonging the Rhododendron season into the dull autumnal and winter 
months, many have been the acquisitions, and none perhaps more brilliant or 
more complete than Messrs. Veitch’s new strain, which may be seen at Chelsea, 
and of which more anon. 
But Miss Walker’s list deserves a few more words. 
First in it stands R. ‘‘ Nobleanum,” in many varieties, blooming from 
October till April. 
In January R. ATROViRENsf (one of the parents of that most useful early 
hybrid R. “ pr^ecox,” alias ‘‘Early Gem”) appears upon the scene; then 
R. ciLiATUM, of which there are lilac (see Sir J. D. Hooker’s Himalayan 
Rhododendrons) blush, and pure white varieties ; then R. arboreum, and a 
succession of hardy kinds till we reach R. glaucum, so curious with its aromatic 
leaves, and so comely with its pink or dappled bells. Between the two, 
R. CILIATUM and R. glaucum, Mr. Davies, of Ormskirk, has raised a hybrid, 
blushing and elegant, and fairly hardy. 
‘‘ Apple-blossom,” a name I do not understand, comes next ; and then 
R. FORMOSUM, which (sometimes called Gibsonii) resembles a scented white 
Azalea, but often is streaked or tinged with pink. R. javanicum takes us to 
another race of Rhododendrons, and into quite another region, which, however, 
* Miss Mary Walker (d. March 4th, 1870), of Drumsheugh, left her land and 
fortune to Trustees for the benefit of the Scottish Episcopal Church. 
St. Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, was built out of the bequest.— I.B.B. 
■f Was it ATROviRENS or dauricum that with ciliatum produced pr.rcox ? I 
think DAURICUM-ATROVIRENS is by many regarded as merely a form of 
DAURICUM, but it is a very different plant and a rare one. — I.B.B. 
Miss Walker’s 
Rhododendrons. 
51 
