Rhododendron 2019

[Maggi Young]

Earlier this week I saw a beautiful rhododendron, about 1.5m tall and almost blue.  The owner though it might be a form of R. dauricum. 
Is this likely in view of the flowering time and colour, and if so which cultivar(s) might it be? 
Thanks for any suggestions.

One  man's  "pinky  violet"  is  another  man's  "blue" .......  one  of the  PJM hybrids ??   

[ashley]

Agreed Maggi and normally I'm sceptical of such descriptions , but this really caught the eye as near the blue end of the violet spectrum.
Perhaps the soil and dappled shade contributed.

[Gail]

On Wednesday I had a clinic at Aylsham and took a long lunch break/short detour and quick gallop around Stody Water Gardens - well worth a trip at this time of year if you like azaleas, but I would recommend a slow stroll rather than the quick gallop, it is an amazing example of massed planting and the scent was fantastic...

https://www.stodyestate.co.uk/azalea-water-garden

[David Nicholson]

Yes, it is well worth visiting Gail.

[Leucogenes]

Already some years old and still only a few centimetres high... Rhododendron nakaharai from the mountains of Taiwan.

[johnw]

Rhododendron platypodum is a superb rhododendron that is finally making its way here.  It's a stout and sturdy fellow with a blue tint to the foliage.  The leaf petioles are hard to see without looking straight dowm at the tips, they're extremely short, broad and wedge shaped. Surely some fine hybrids will come from this one.

john

[Maggi Young]

Very  nice  chunky  little  chaps, John!

[johnw]

Friend Jack's daughter -in-law has just returned home from a posting in Buryatia in eastern Siberia where she shot these dauricums. 

I've just returned from a visit to Wrightman's Alpines in the charming coastal town of St. Andrews, New Brunswick, a good 5.5 hour drive from Halifax.  Pix later.

johnw
22c & sunny

[Maggi Young]

Wow!  Has there  been an element of  low-level burning to the  trees, do you  think. John? There  seems to be  something that looks  like  fire  damage  to the lower trunks. The  flower  power  of the  R. dauricum is spectacular!

[johnw]

Maggi - Could it simply be more mature wood rather than fire scorching?  I presume it 's Pinus sylvestris but I've never seen new wood such a colour usually a coppery orange.

john

[Maggi Young]

Maggi - Could it simply be more mature wood rather than fire scorching?  I presume it 's Pinus sylvestris but I've never seen new wood such a colour usually a coppery orange.

john

Very  possibly, John  - I'll be  studying  tree trunks  more  closely  in future to learn what I  can. 

[Maggi Young]

On Twitter  today from Alan Elliott:
"Yesterday's little bit of amazing was  while working on Ericaceae entries for The World Flora
 finding not only a missed name in the database but overlooked Type material of Rhododendron cuneifolium var elongatum[/b] in  the RBGE Herbarium "