Rhododendrons 2016

[Robert]

Gabriela,

Here is another hybrid "seedling" Rhododendron from our Sacramento garden (photo taken on Sunday). It will never win any awards, but this is okay. It is still nice enough to keep in our garden. 



Yellow Maddenia type hybrid.



It is a bit of a rangy grower but looks good in the background poking up above the plants in the foreground.

[Hoy]

Very nice flowers, Robert!

I have grown quite a few rhododendrons from seed and I keep them all if they survive! I never have the heart to remove any
These are all from seed, and the first one flowered after 3 years. No names except the last one which is seed of sutchuenense. No flowers here yet so the pictures are from a previous year.









Last Saturday I had to remove limbs with several flower buds from the sutchuenense. It has grown too big and blocked the path completely

[Garden Prince]

Nice flowers!

I wonder if there is a source where I can find how long certain Rhododendron species / crosses take from sowing to first time flowering? (General indication of course!)

I got some nice 3 year old seedlings of Rhododendron brachycarpum x galactinum from a cross made by a very knowledgable gardener in coastal Nova Scotia  and seedlings from Rhododendron makinoi. I hope first flowering is not in 30 years time

[Gabriela]

Very nice rhodos Robert and Trond! I would also keep them all  It's not impossible to grow some here but much easier to give a try for deciduous azaleas, or low type evergreens that would remain under snow.

Not to worry, we are all in the same boat with rhodo seeds and lottos.  The late flowering of myrtifolium should rule out any stray pollination from other species. Might have a bit ofr tolerance for higher pH ().
john

I don't know why you are saying this, how about those beautiful cv. of yours I've seen posted? They are gorgeous.
I read about a bit more tolerance too, but I don't remember where and until tried who knows. Anyway, it could be grown in a dedicated trough with the right mix.

[johnw]

I don't know why you are saying this, how about those beautiful cv. of yours I've seen posted? They are gorgeous.

The azaleas were the result of a very deliberate & complex strategy that involved a quite a few years of growing.  Evergreen azaleas can be flowered in 2-3 years from seed so the process is rather speedy.   Such is not the case with elepidotes, I have been breeding them for 35 years and have named not a one. That would be a total 1683 crosses according to my records. I may name two.  Ask how many were trashed!  Things get much easier when one lives in benign climate and one can collect seed in gardens where only the best and most exotic are grown.  Factor in the reuqrement of hardiness and it's an entirely different matter.

john

[Gabriela]

As you can tell I am not very knowledgeable in rhodos/azaleas. I didn't mean to say you got those cv. by chance - I imagined there was planning in obtaining them.
That would be great to have at least a hardy rhodo named after all the work! 

[johnw]

As you can tell I am not very knowledgeable in rhodos/azaleas. I didn't mean to say you got those cv. by chance - I imagined there was planning in obtaining them.
That would be great to have at least a hardy rhodo named after all the work! 

Seed collected in the wild by a reputable grower is always worth a go.  As well why not start with evergreen azaleas, use an old dependable that you like and cross it with a species like a good kiusianum or nakaharai and you will be soon get a good batch of garden worthy seedlings, maybe not ones to be  named but in the process you will have selected out good-doers for your area.

Some lepidotes are worth growing from seed, ones like the dwarf forms of mucronulatum which one can flower in a year or two.  And hardiness is not an issue.

john

[Robert]

Very nice flowers, Robert!

I have grown quite a few rhododendrons from seed and I keep them all if they survive! I never have the heart to remove any
These are all from seed, and the first one flowered after 3 years. No names except the last one which is seed of sutchuenense. No flowers here yet so the pictures are from a previous year.

Trond,

Your seedling Rhododendrons look great - or at least I would have a hard time tossing them too. 

Before I started to care for my elderly parents, I bred Rhododendrons (vegetables too). Great fun! and something that became incredibly interesting. Many years ago I used the pedigree method to breed Rhododendrons, with poor results. I needed to find something that worked for me. Fortunately, I had been doing the right things all along, I just was not applying the techniques to Rhododendrons. It is hard to believe it took me so long to wake up.    Anyway, sound, well established techniques brought me results (you can find this information in any university text on traditional plant breeding - even old ones from the early 1980's ), some projects of which I want to return to in the future. Creating male fertile hybrid lepidote Rhododendrons (many are male sterile) from ones that had been male sterile is one such project. This is most likely a nerdy project for someone like me (not very glamourous    ). At least I find the project completely fascinating and believe that it opens a whole new world of possibilities with lepidote Rhododendrons (at least for me).

[Gabriela]

Seed collected in the wild by a reputable grower is always worth a go.  As well why not start with evergreen azaleas, use an old dependable that you like and cross it with a species like a good kiusianum or nakaharai and you will be soon get a good batch of garden worthy seedlings, maybe not ones to be  named but in the process you will have selected out good-doers for your area.
Some lepidotes are worth growing from seed, ones like the dwarf forms of mucronulatum which one can flower in a year or two.  And hardiness is not an issue.
john

Thank you very much for the advice; I will keep it, who knows...For now I will concentrate on Hepatica, nothing fancy but would like to select few good colour forms for americana and acutiloba. May be hard to believe but they are not easy to find (to buy) and when it happens is mainly a wash-out white H.americana.
The fact that I can rely on myself for seeds makes a big difference 
Except the Northern Lights series there are hardly other azaleas to buy here.

[Robert]

A few Rhododendrons in bloom.



A very fine color form of R. racemosum grown from wild seed. It behaves and looks a bit different from any of my other wild forms of R. racemosum. It may have some other "blood" in it.



Rhododendron spinuliferum



These are also from wild seed. They have done well despite our summer heat and drought.

[johnw]

Robert - Wonderful shots of spinuliferum, a real pick-me-up as we brace for yet another Nor'easter which threatens to bomb-out.  Sadly spinuliferum is far too tender for the east coast so a plan of action was required.  Your photo was timely as I have just come in from the greenhouse where I crossed two sibling (mucronulatum v. taguetii* x spinuliferum Starling's clear & darkest red) for the F2, one dwarf one and one tall.  It was no problem replicating the leaves in the F1, while the flowers are a tad pinched they are not dramatically pinched as in the species. We'll see if the pinch & colour will come in the F2, and on a dwarf plant as I reckon taller ones are brittle.  The trials and tribulations of living in a climate with a real winter. ...

* as 'Cheju'

john

[Robert]

John,

I very much appreciate and find interesting your latest input. I take it the taquetii x spinuliferum F1 was male fertile? I will be very curious how the F2 sort. I have a mucronulatum 'Berg's Best' x racemosum dwarf that is completely male sterile. It is a dwarf plant (less than 30cm after 15 years), very heat tolerant, and looks like hell during the winter (it retains very few leaves). It was a good parent with R. edgeworthii producing some very good plants.

I tried some spinuliferum hybrids right before I had to mothball the project. Now that I can resume things I have been looking around - maybe I will find those seed pans. At least there has been a silver lining to the whole experience. Many of the liner pots I had sitting around on the ground have produced blooming plants. What a wake-up. Being able to bring 50 plants into bloom in less than 1 square meter was an eye opener for me. No matter what sort of breeding methodology one uses it is still a numbers game. I used this same technique (selecting from 200-300 F2 or F3 plants within a very small area) when breeding hybrid tomatoes (except in a sightly different way).

Before the rains started I took some photographs of some of the on going hybrids. At this point in the project success is defined as; fixing traits; getting hybrids to behave as specie (i.e. generally over coming male sterility); and having some good clues as to the genotype of potential parents. A few of the hybrids have turned out a little better than I thought. I'll post the photographs when I get a chance.

[Hoy]

Very nice Robert! Rh. spinuliferum and racemosum are two species I have planned to try here Now you have made me expedite the plans

[Gabriela]

R. spinuliferum is absolutely gorgeous!

John - if you ever get a dwarf hybrid that's not up to your standards please don't trash it 

[johnw]

No sterility in the F1 cross Robert.  The F1 was extremely fast growing and set buds in 8 months from seed.  I did the F2 last year as well.  Red is notoriously difficult to acheive when hardiness is in the equation.  We'd be quite happy with the spinuliferum flower shape and a dwarf habit whatever the colour.

john