Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Rhododendron and other Ericaceae => Topic started by: TC on May 14, 2007, 11:22:10 PM
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Visited Benmore again yesterday to catch up on the Rhods. that were not yet in flower on 25 April - still to post. The colour was certainly vivid. The picture of the hill is the start of a 400 foot climb up zig-zag paths through umpteen wonderful plants. The hedge on the first section is Elisabeth Hobbie. The pollen was donated from Benmore to produce varieties such as Elisabeth. In the foreground are williamsianum hybryds and yakushimanum hybrids. Lots more still to come.
_0005 Rh. Moonstone
_0013 Rh. rex tree
_012 Rh. rex sssp. fictolacteum truss.
_018 Benmore pond.
_023 Rhod. hybrid hillside 1
_034 Rh. Spring Rose.
DSC033 Shrimp Girl.jpg
_DSC0031 Norderney ( williamsianum x Essex Scarlet )
_DSC0035 Humming Bird
_DSC0039 Rh.degronianum
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Error in picture 034 should be Spring Rose
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Tom,
The photos of Benmore take me back a few years when I visited with the Rhodo Society of the RHS. At that time the hillside was still being developed. Great to see the results. Benmore is an inspiring place. It cannot be fully appreciated in one day! I hope to return in the not too distant future.
Thank you for sharing.
Charlotte
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Superb pix from a wonderful place Tom - thanks a lot for showing us around.
Hi Charlotte ? We missed you last Saturday ! How is the leg ??
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Goodness me, not only were half the Scots at the Czech conference hobbling around with sore arms and legs, it seem that Franz H. could not attend because of a fall ( see Mark''s post in the Czech pages) and now we hear that Charlotte has a bad leg, as well... I see that there is no truth in the rumour that gardening keeps one fit and healthy!! Get well soon, all you wounded Forumists!
Thanks again to you, Tom, for keeping fit enough to be the Roving Reporter!
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Maggi,
Funny you should write what you just did...
Take a peek at Gardening and Human Sacrifice: http://www.botanicalgardening.com/humansacrifice.html
It's the latest post on my website...I guess we're all coming to the same conclusion!
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Many, many thanks to Tom.....
and equal thanks to Ben (if not) More!!
Beautiful!!
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Luc,
Thanks for your greeting. Hope to be out of the cast later this week. My garden is crying out for attention. And, seed pots ..... all in good time
Charlotte
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Part 2 of the Benmore saga. The next load of pictures continue with some Yak. hybrids and finish at the start of the Japanese Azalea walk. Remember, these are the azaleas which are normally about 2feet/60cms. in the average garden.. At this point, we have barely started going up the hill.
However, the beauty is that you can walk on the grass around most of the specimens which gives you a feeling that you are in the wild.
Golden Torch
Silberwolke
Morgenrot
Loderi
General hillside view 1
Ems (forrestii repens x Purple Splendour)
orbiculaire x diachroanthum
pingianum
Jap. Azalea walk
Jap. Azalea walk 2
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Funny you should write what you just did...
Take a peek at Gardening and Human Sacrifice: http://www.botanicalgardening.com/humansacrifice.html
It's the latest post on my website...I guess we're all coming to the same conclusion!
says Carlo...
Carlo, that is such an apt piece! Would you like me to drop round with some linament?
I do enjoy your website, I hope others are visiting it too? http://www.botanicalgardening.com/index.html
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part 3
Still climbing up the hill but have missed out two paths of Rh. as they are by their best. If I ever get round to our 25 April trip, I will post them there. We are coming out of the hybryds into species again.
Topsy
decorum
Carita Inchmery --campylocarpum x Naomi
orbiculare
vernicosum
augustinii x chasmanthus
searsiae
Magnolia wilsonii
oreotrephes
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Part 4
We are on our way down from the open hillside into the wooded section, then the Bhutan glade down onto the level ground and one of the oldest parts of the garden near the old house which is - now an outdoor centre for Edinburgh schools. The Bhutan and Chilean sections are the most recent plantings. Some of the Rhs. here are hanging on for dear life. A commercial forest which used to give protection was felled and the shelter belt went to the detriment of some of the plants.
Coming down this really steep path, after walking for 3 hours, is really sore on the knees !!
dichroanthum x scyphocalyx
sperabile var. weihsiense
preptums
rh. x detronsum ( adenogynum x ? ) It's nice to see that they have trouble with the names !
baileyi
campylocarpum ssp. campylocarpum
pendulum
Kesagiae truss
kessangiae tree
phaeochrysum
c
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tom, I've taken out your extra picture... to do this one simpley clicks "modify" then "additional options", which shows the pix you have added ....then unclick ( un-tick) the box beside the one you want to remove. Then click "save" again to reset post.
By the way, the red rhodo you have a russatum, isn't!
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Thanks for the info. Maggi, I have a feeling I will need it.
This was the label tied on the Rh. I called russatum. So, what it is I do not know.
I have removed the picture to avoid any confusion. The next time I am there I will ask one of the gardening staff for an identification.
I am waiting for some information on Rh. i.d. from the head gardener at Achamore on Gigha before I post anything from here. Some of the labels were so encrusted with algae as to be unreadable whilst others were only four figure numbers allocated by the N.T.S.
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Another trip to Benmore to see what is still flowering. Surprisingly, there were a few rhododendrons in flower. Probably the cool damp weather has held them back. The bonus was that they were scented varieties. The R. auriculatum caught my notice not only for its scent but its size. It must be at least 16 metres high, (or 50' in old money ) The attached pictures are a flavour of what is about.
The picture of the hillside is a contrast to the one I posted in May/June
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Tom, that R. auriculatum tree is the loveliest thing I can imagine! I have been waiting over twenty years, nearly 25, for a flower on my plant! The fragrance must have been amazing! Wish you could bottle it and send it to me! I admit to a considerable bias, but I believe the scented white rhodos to be the most entrancingly beautiful flowers in a garden.... delicious and lovely, what could be nicer?
Thank you for this wonderful "fix" of my favourites..... I couldn't enjoy the pictures more!
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Howdy All,
Still catching up on the various postings while I haven't been visiting much. Finally catching up with at least some of the Rhodo postings...... these are absolutely amazing. Must be some place to visit!! The azalea walk is breathtaking!! Beautiful pics, thanks so much for taking the time to post them.
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Maggi
This is what a mature R. auriculatum looks like. I could not stand back far enough to get it all in. The lighting is poor but it gives an idea of the size and the abundance of flowers.
From my ancient perspective, 35 years of marriage makes you a beginner. After 40 years you stop counting !!
Anyway, belated congratulations.
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Well Tom, if I ever get to see my R. auriculatum in that condition, with all those wonderful scented flowers, I'm not going to be a beginner at anything... I think the Guinness book of records will be involved.
I can see why one would stop counting after 40.... the pair of you have run out of fingers and toes to count on! ::)
What a stunning tree....never seen better. May print out pic to show mine... perhpas it just needs to SEE what it is meant to be doing? :-\
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We have been at Benmore twice this October to catch the Autumn colour. The first time was a bit too early so we returned again last Thursday. We could have done with leaving it another week but with gales and heavy rain forecast it was too risky waiting. When we arrived last Thursday, there was a plague of Red Squirrels raiding the bird feeders and then proceeding to bury the nuts nearbye. It was the first time I had seen adults and juveniles together. The juveniles are almost black but this changes to the beautiful red we associate with them However, the light was too low for photography using a high shutter speed so I will have to wait for another time. There was also a good crop of fungus scattered through the woodlands.
We also visited Glenbranter which is about 10 miles further along Loch Eck side. This was the estate owned by Sir Harry Lauder and then taken over by the RBGE as their original planting of trees and rhododendrons collected in the wild. I believe that this dates to around 1920. When Benmore was acquired, the bulk of the collection was moved here, but many remained at Glenbranter to eventually disappear under commercial plantings. These have now been rediscovered next to a large waterfall. We took the track up here and noted many specimens clinging to the hillside so this will have to be investigated next Spring. Anyway here is a flavour of what was about. It will probably need two postings.
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A few more.
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Heavenly Tom !
Thanks a lot for showing us !
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Lovely pics, Tom.
Those ones of Benmore pond look like they should be made into jig-saw puzzles! The 5,000 piece sort!
cheers
fermi
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Just caught up with these Tom-you really do take a beautiful picture.
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After a look at the weather forecast and a look out the window, we went off to Benmore for Peter Baxter's talk on the RBGE's trips to Japan. The journey up the coast was a bit rough with squalls of sleet every few miles. Luckily, the ferry was running so we made it in good time. The garden was flooded in areas with some sizeable branches lying around which would have hurt if they had landed on you from 150 feet up ! The talk was excellent, seeing the trees in their native habitat and some of the resultant trees from the seed collected have now been planted in the garden. We managed a quick look at a couple of the Rhododendrons now flowering. To my surprise, there was an Oreodoxa in flower. I photographed some of these flowering in April and May last year. It just shows the variability of plants collected from different areas. The other was a rather fetching Strigulosum hyb., not seen at its best in driving sleet.
As the wind was increasing in strength and the light was fading we set off back to Hunter's Quay for the ferry to find that all sailings had been suspended due to a force 9 gale. This gave me a 135 mile drive home over the Rest-and-be-Thankful pass. To those who do not know the area it's the only way back to Glasgow unless you wish to go by Oban which adds another 80 miles to the journey. It was a bit uncomfortable with howling winds and sleet but gritter lorries were out on the road. Once we got to Glasgow, it was nose to bumper all the way home. Still, it was an interesting day out.
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What a nightmare journey, Tom... though I suppose it was better than a sinking ferry :P
Just as well you enjoyed the Talk! Amazing to see these rhodos out now... and in this weather! Extraordinary... I wonder how many flowers they'll have left after a day of this wind, poor things?
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We had our third visit to the gardens this year - in beautiful sunny weather for a change. We were greeted by news that the garden has now had to take precautions against Phytophthora ramorum - "sudden oak death" which has been discovered in Arduaine and Inverewe gardens. A footwash has been installed at the entrance to the gardens to hopefully stop any infestations being brought in.
If this disease did get in, then the gardens would be all but destroyed. A worrying thought.
On a brighter note, the rhododendron season has started and should be in full swing in about 4 weeks - barring gales and late frosts.
2008 02 14 Rh.barbatum
2008 02 14 Rh.dauricum
2008 02 14 Rh.ririei
2008 02 14 Rh. rirei
2008 02 14 Rh.barbatum
Benmore Gardens entrance.
hillside.
Rh. cyanocarpum
Rh. faucium flowers
Rh. luteum
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Some more taken on 17 March
Rh. oreodoxa var fargesii hyb.
Rh. praestans
Rh. praestans flower
Rh. thomsonii ssp.thomsonii flower
Rh.barbatum.
Rh.cyanocarpum bush
Rh.floccigerum flower
Rh.montroseanum.
Rh.montroseanum flower
The captions on the last two pictures should be as above - delete monstreanum
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Hi Tom lovely thread thanks for sharing
I haven't heard of R monstreanum before not that I'm any sort of great authority on Rhodos. Is it a recent introduction? I do know of R montroseanum which I have and this does look a little like it. Can you shed any light ???
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Ian. It's just my crappy typing. It should be montroseanum. I have recently got a new wireless keyboard which requires harder pressure to generate the letters. I have found that I now regularly miss out sequences of letters which I think I have typed. If I could be bothered proof reading, the errors would be corrected, however, I now know that people are actually looking closely at the captions to the pictures. As regards to new varieties, there has been an extensive new planting high up the hillside of seed grown varieties from a few of the expeditions to China. Several of these look as if they will flower this year so I will be taking pictures of them. As you probably know, the RSBG in Edinburgh have extensive contacts in China and have regular joint plant hunting trips, so new material is constantly being introduced.
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They are wonderful, keep them coming please. Looks as though we have a good bud set this year, so should be a good spring showing this year. My R montroseanum has only flowered once and does not look as though it will do so this year either - too much shade, but it is too big to move now.
Thank you,
Susan
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Thanks Tom as there are hundreds of species and an increased number of people collecting you never know when a new species will strike. As to crappy typing I say I was there first. Please keep those pictures coming it is marvellous to see these plants in such a great setting almost looks like they are in their real home.
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So wonderful to see all those species. I'd not seen more than half of those before. Seeing how nice the species are almost makes you wonder why people went into the hybridisation!! (Yes, I am being facetious here..... we always strive for new things, don't we!) I particularly like the colouration and form of monstroseanum (one of the ones I had never seen before), and some of the smaller species you showed.