tICije ^ocietp ^otej;, 
RHODODENDRONS AT POLLOK HOUSE, RENFREWSHIRE. 
Contributed by Sir John Stirling-Maxwell, Bart. 
It seems sound that each member should give his experience for what it is 
worth ; otherwise I should not dare to mention this garden. It is in the suburbs 
of Glasgow, which embrace the place on three sides and render its groves as 
black as those of Kensington Gardens. Under such conditions the charm of all 
evergreen plants is impaired, but those of the Rhododendron family thrive 
better than any others. Their cultivation has been too much neglected in 
industrial districts. Their leaves have the art of divesting themselves of the 
inky slime which winter fogs deposit and emerging from a night’s rain fresh and 
lustrous. Even the fine grit brought by easterly breezes in summer—so destruc¬ 
tive to most foliage—does not harm them, nor does that invisible scourge the 
free sulphur in the atmosphere seem to check their development. Mr. Whitton, 
the Superintendent of the Glasgow Parks, (lucky the city which has such energy 
and skill at its disposal), cultivates them with success in surroundings which at 
first sight appear impossible. But he leaves nothing to chance. Knowing how 
they will need all the vigour he can put into them, he provides them with suitable 
soil and shelter and thus escapes the failures which have deterred gardeners in 
other towns from trying any but the commonest kinds. 
The soil at Pollok is a good loam over a desperate till: for Rhododendrons it 
requires the addition of leaf-mould or peat. The climate—apart from the 
smoke—suits all the hardier kinds, though it cannot compare with that of 
sheltered spots a few miles farther west and more under the kindly influence of 
the sea. Up to ten years ago only the commoner hybrids were grown, 
" Cynthia ” and “ Lady Eleanor Cathcart ” being in this locality about the 
best. Recently a number of Himalayan and Chinese species have been planted 
on the lee side of a wooded hill behind the garden, some seventy feet above the 
river and its frosts. The wood is old and thin, but yews, hollies and tangles of 
R. PONTicuM provide the necessary local shelter. R. grande and R. Falconeri 
both succumbed to the first winter. The latter we are trying again since under 
Professor Bayley Balfour’s care it lives and flowers in Edinburgh. R. cinna- 
BARiNUM for some reason has never done well. Otherwise there have been few 
failures. 
The following species are now in cultivation and have all come through the 
last two trying winters and cruel springs. Only those starred have yet flowered. 
R. ARBOREUM* (several varieties), R. barbatum,* R. campanulatum,* 
R. Thomsonii,* R. fulgens,* R. Hodgsonii, R, campylocarpum, R. niveum, 
R. LANATUM, R. cinnabarinum, R. Roylei, R. glaucum,* R. lepidotum,* 
R. CAUCASiUM* (pink, white and dwarf yellow), R. Smirnowii,* R. Ungernii, 
R. Metternichii, R. dauricum,* R. catawbiense,* R. californicum, R. 
MAXIMUM,* R. CAROLINIANUM,* R. PUNCTATUM,* R. CALOPHYTUM, R. DECORUM,* 
171 
