Rhododendrons 2016

[Gabriela]

Wow! and hardy to -25C!!!!

[johnralphcarpenter]

Rhododendron Loderi Group 'King George', R. Loderi Group 'Pink Diamond', R. 'Ruby Hart', R. 'Graziella', R. cinnabarinum.

[David Nicholson]

For those too cold for R. augustinii here is an option and it's very cold hardy, R. 'Azuray'.  It along with its sister seedling 'Bluenose' are hardy well below -25c so I'm told, they just need very sharp drainage.  'Azuray' in a good year can be a clear powder blue; here in a friend's/lurker's garden yesterday.

john

Lovely John, what sort of size does it get please?

[David Nicholson]

Rhododendron Loderi Group 'King George', R. Loderi Group 'Pink Diamond', R. 'Ruby Hart', R. 'Graziella', R. cinnabarinum.

Lovely stuff Ralph. Are you on ericaceous soil or do you grow in pots please. Do you grow your Loderi Group plants outdoors?

[johnw]

Lovely John, what sort of size does it get please?

David  - 'Azuray' gets to be about 6-8ft high and under a yard wide, actually quite narrow.  'Bluenose' is not quite as tall and much bushier.  Haven't seen any bigger than that and they been around these parts since the early 80's.

Barry may very well have both as am sure we got them to him 20+ years ago.

If your part of Devon is as wet as my garden south, circa 65" and extreme fog, then drainage must be extra sharp, almost scree-like.

john

[johnralphcarpenter]

Lovely stuff Ralph. Are you on ericaceous soil or do you grow in pots please. Do you grow your Loderi Group plants outdoors?

In large pots, David. We are on Weald clay. The Loderi Group plants are outdoors, as are all my Rhododendrons except the Vireyas. The Loderi are perfectly hardy in the south of England.

[David Nicholson]

Thanks John and Ralph

[TC]

David
Here is a picture of Tinkerbird in full flower.  Highly recommended.  I think this plant is 5 years old.  The Loderi KG V is about 20 years old and 10 feet high.  I bought Alison Johnstone (a hybrid cinnabarinum) two years ago and is showing well.  My remaining Augustinii exbury has also flowered well .

 I was at Arduaine garden a week ago in beautiful sunny Spring weather just in time to see and smell the scented varieties.  Well worth the rather long journey.  I had an interesting talk with the gardener about Augustinii's.  He said that they had to be careful with them as the stems were very brittle and snapped easily.  This confirmed the disaster I had with one of mine.  Instead of bending when I attempted to straighten it up, it snapped at base level.  I could have done with that information prior !

[David Nicholson]

Thanks very much for the information Tom.

Having made a list of everything I've found attractive on these pages (list now much longer than pockets!) it looks as though a trip to Burncoose is inevitable as they seem to have perhaps the best availability in this area. http://www.burncoose.co.uk/site/index.cfm

Although my soil is fairly neutral I don't think I have the space in the garden for Rhodies so it will be pots for me. Having said that I do have one ericaceous bed I made about 15 years ago with Rhododendrons and Azaleas and is now pretty congested so that should produce some 'in the soil' space. Blue Tit, or maybe it's Blue Diamond, that has flowered wonderfully well for years is pretty poor this year so it's time has come.

[Hoy]

A few from my garden on a rainy day!

Rhododendron, possibly 'Scarlet Wonder', almost finished after several weeks in flower.




A seedling of unknown parentage. I got several seeds from a friend years ago. All the seedlings were almost similar so I gave away a lot.




Rh. cinnabarinum ssp. xanthocodon

[Hoy]

Also an unknown seedling. I got it at the  Arboretum at Milde, Bergen, where a lot of seedlings are removed from the woods and paths.




Rh 'Karin' is always flowering nicely.




Rh. yunnanense

[David Nicholson]

Lovely stuff Trond.

[birck j c]

In flower to day

Midnight Magic x rex

28 + flowers in the truss   20 cm in Ø

single flower 8 cm Ø

rex is a very good father in many crosses

jens

[Maggi Young]

News and some photos from Pam Hayward, via JohnW, about the Rhododendron and Camellia Group  from Chelsea....


" ......You will be thrilled to hear that the Group has won a Silver-Gilt Medal at the Chelsea Flower Show! This is an amazing achievement and reflects all the hard work put in by Sally Hayward and David Millais to plan the exhibit, and the combined efforts of Sally, David & Andy and Jenny Fly to build the stand and lay out the plants so carefully. We are also indebted to the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh who have entrusted us with some of their most precious vireyas for the duration of the show.

Her Majesty the Queen visited the exhibit yesterday afternoon and was presented with a bouquet of rhododendrons which she can be seen with on the cover of today's Daily Telegraph and Daily Express. What better endorsement for a 'rhododendron revival' could we ask for!

Thanks to all who have played a part in this, not forgetting the Top 100 participants! The Rhododendron yakushimanum image kindly supplied to us by Jennifer Lu is attracting a great deal of attention and having the 'real thing' forming part of the scene is truly inspired. The Queen instantly recognised our favourite rhododendron and spent some time talking to Sally about it.

The BBC are filming at the stand later today.....

In addition our three associated stands: Burncoose Nurseries, Hillier's and Millais Nurseries all won Gold medals, so congratulations to them too! "


Excellent news all round, eh?

(A few images are attached which have been reduced to fit!)

[Roma]

Rhododendron oreotrephes
Deciduous azaleas coming into flower