The Rhododendrons at Singleton, near Swansea
Some very fine specimens of Himalayan Rhododendrons may be seen in the Singleton Abbey grounds, belonging to Lord Swansea. The specimen shown in fig. 57 is a natural hybrid between R. falconeri and R. niveum, raised from seed sent to Singleton by Colonel Sykes, who commenced his first expedition to the Himalayas in about the year 1848. The tree is 30 feet high, and 20 feet in diameter across the branches. At the time our photograph was taken the plant had 200 heads of flowers, which in size are very similar to those of R. Falconeri, but they are tinged with lilac colour when they first open, passing afterwards to white or nearly white. Mr. James Harris, whose photograph appears in the illustration, was gardener at Singleton for many years, and has now a nursery at Blackpill in the immediate neighborhood.
Among the most notable Rhododendrons at Singleton is R. barbatum, 37 feet high and 15 feet through. This tree is wonderful and its effect handsome, even in winter, but when in flower the sight must be one worth a long journey to see. It generally produces about 400 heads of flowers.
Of R. Falconeri there is one specimen 28 feet high and 15 feet through, which has produced on one or more occasions as many as 200 heads of flowers. We had the pleasure of visiting Singleton in January, and these marvelous Rhododendrons, so large that their individual characters are well developed, provided us with an unusual treat, the foliage of R. barbatum and other species being so handsome that the absence of flowers was of less consequence than one would have expected.
There is also a good Pinetum at Singleton, which contains many fine specimens, including Tsuga Mertensiana (Albertiana), 110 feet high.
Lord Swansea having resided abroad for the past three years. Singleton is only inhabited by caretakers, but we are glad to find that although little brushing up and such-like work is done in the gardens, the trees are looked after by Mr. Harris, who is still retained for this purpose by Lord Swansea. The extraordinary climate at Singleton is shown by the fact that we were able to gather beautiful flowers of Grevillea rosmarinifolia on January 14 from a plant growing on the Castle walls exposed to the weather.