Rhododendron... every garden should have some

[Ragged Robin]

Roma, when you have time it would be great to see some shots of Cruickshank Botanical Garden - it would be very interesting to see it over the years through your perspective, it sounds as if you have an amazing photographic record....by the way a quick way of digitizing your old photo prints is to take a shot directly with your camera.  I did this for the 'who is this?' Forum thread for a BW photo and it worked much better than I imagined - fun to see too - it would save you some time

[Maggi Young]

for interest: there is some rhodo talk and pix here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5604.0

[Diane Whitehead]

All except a couple of rhodos have finished flowering, so now I
am spending lots of time deadheading.

I even did a little on a R. racemosum that I have never deadheaded
before.  It grows down on the bank to the road, along with various
cistus, penstemons and grevillea.  They don't get watered.

Now, this is a very unusual way to treat a rhodo here in Victoria.
We don't get summer rain, so they need watering for their
new growth, and even so they never reach the dimensions that
they do in wetter places like Portland, Seattle or Vancouver.

However, racemosum, at least Hall's Form, does just fine.  Today
I discovered why.  There were no new leaves forming, and the
clusters of seedpods were down a finger-length from the tips of
the branches.  I realized it has already grown and matured this
year's leaves.  It did it in spring when we do get rain.

[Diane Whitehead]

One of the last rhodos to flower for me is an azalea from Eastern North
America, Rhododendron arborescens.  On a warm day, its scent
perfumes half the garden.

Because of the recent discussion of dwarf blues, I have photographed
my husband standing between arborescens and Bluebird which is a
grex of augustinii x impeditum.  It is supposed to remain more-or-less
dwarf.  I planted it sometime in the '70s.  It is a bit difficult to differentiate
it, but it is in the middle of the picture between a mock orange on the
left and arborescens on the right.  It is about twice Don's height.  Just
behind the top you can see the red new leaves of Machilus thunbergii
and some English Garden roses (Austin roses grow tall here).

[Maggi Young]

Diane, the arborescens is gorgeous.... such perfect blooms and I believe I can catch the scent from  here 

I see what you mean about the "supposed" size of the R. Bluebird..... That enormous (yellow) bird in Sesame Street comes to mind 

[Ragged Robin]

I agree with Maggi, spectacular flowering and a wonderful setting - your husband certainly looks dwarfed amongst everything Diane! 

[t00lie]

Rhododendron ciliatum just starting to flower with plenty of buds yet to open.

[Ragged Robin]

A pale,delicate and beautiful start to the Rhodo season for you Dave 

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Looks fabulous Dave !! 

[t00lie]

Thanks Robin and Luc.

There are a number of Rhodies planted against the east edge of the bush which unfortunately have become leggy because of lack of light .
Last summer before this years flowering buds were formed i pruned back some of the more adventurous growths as well as removing some of the overhanging native trees/shrubs.I plan to prune those rhodies again ,a bit harder this season.

Another exercise has been to continually cut back off the driveway a substantial R.christmas cheer --- height of 3.5 x 5.5 mtrs wide --as a result it only flowers heavily on the upper branches.Some years it is affected by frost ,however not this one.

[Otto Fauser]

Dave , a nice R. ciliatum in your woodland setting- here it is also in flower . Somewhat larger in my garden at the moment - about 8 metres tall is Rh. arboreum ssp. roseum ( ssp. campbellii)

 A glimpse into Tim Orpin's garden - my next door neighbour who visited you a few years ago ,Dave .
3 young Acer griseum underplanted with Scleranthus biflorus . It looked brilliant with the maples in their autumn glory a few months ago , forgot to take a photo .

[t00lie]

3 young Acer griseum underplanted with Scleranthus biflorus .

Hello Otto
Lovely combination.

Yes i remember Tim--actually i was in contact with him recently to thank him for the Helleborus seed he sent me back in Dec 07 ,most of which are currently in bloom --some wonderful doubles and picote colours.

 

[johnw]

A bit of autumn fire from Rhododendron mucronulatum v. taquetii.  The first, an old plant bought as 'Cheju' and the second a self-sown seedling in a trough.

johnw

[Onion]

John,

wow.
Is var. taguetii famous for this autumn fire? I only knew R. mucronulatum with yellow-green autumn leaves. No red in it.

[Diane Whitehead]

Cheju is the Korean island where seed was collected - probably in 1987,
as my plant was grown from seed I got in 1988.

Mine is very dwarf, and has old-gold leaves.  Never red, but the leaves
are so tiny they wouldn't make much of a show even if they were scarlet.