Rhododendron 2015

[TC]

I had johnstoneanum once but it was killed in a very cold winter. Maybe I should try it once more?

Here are two also from Glendoick but I couldn't find the names.
The last ones needs perfect drainage so it is growing in the thick moss layer on a rock.

The bottom picture looks very much like Plover. If it has a scent then it most likely is.  As it is an Edgeworthii cross it would need very good drainage.
I have had this Johnstoneanum for 5 years growing in a sheltered area between fencing and a trellis.  It produced a few flowers the first year and to my disappointment, they were not scented.  With  some hard frosts the past few years, the buds were always blasted before opening.  This year, there was a profusion of buds and the flowering was spectacular.  The picture was taken before it fully flowered as the forecast was for frost, but it did not freeze here so I was a happy boy !

Also, my Cinnabarinum has produced flowers after a 7 year wait.

[johnw]

Tom - As you know once they start there's no turning back.  Jens emailed me a shot of his sensational cinnabarinum hybrid a couple of days ago, I hope it is in the UK by now.  It even grows here.

'What A Dane' = (R. ambiguum x R. cinnabarinum Concatenans Group) x R. cinnabarinum ssp cinnabarinum 'Nepal' 25cm label required.  No doubt ambiguum has given it the added cold hardiness.

johnw

[TC]

John
I got the Rhododendron bug seriously about 50 years ago but had to wait until I moved to Ayr in 1971 and a brand new garden.  Having two young children, grass was a priority but I was allowed a small section for myself.  I planted Lady Chamberlain, Concatenans, Roylii and Yakushimanum.  The cinnabarinums grew and flowered well for 5 years and then they all experienced die-back and had to be removed.  It was possibly powdery milldew which seemed to be sweeping the west coast at that time.
The Yak is still flowering but is getting a bit leggy now as it is being starved of light due to the Camellias.
About 7 years ago I planted a Xanthocodon and Lady Chamberlain in a special prepared site.  Within a few years they were flowering well.  The Xanthocodon flowered in early Spring and then again in November.  Last year I noticed that one of the stems was dead and within a few weeks the leaves on the main stem curled up and fell off.
Lady Chamberain repeated this and also had to be removed.  The Cinnabarinum - in a different site -produced loads of new growth each year but this year actually flowered on several stems....fingers crossed.

For the last few years I have been on a buying/planting spree keeping up the profits of Glendoick  and the Tree shop on Loch Fyne.  Most of the plants are most probably doomed outdoors....Edgeworthii, Lady Alice Fitzwilliam, Fragrantissimum and Veitchianum.  They are kept outdoors and brought into the greenhouse if frost is forecast.
When the buds are ready to open they are brought indoors to sit on the table next to the computer.  It's Lady Alice's turn to be brought in.

[johnw]

Tom  - Very odd behaviour on your cinns et al.  When I first got my cinns I kept them in a frost-free ghouse for the winter and after they reached 1 meter or more  - and the reusultant crowding - they all got powdery mildew and would drop all their foliage by spring.  I got them in the ground as they got to 2m but most were too weakened to take the first winter out, maybe they were simply too tender.  One from Clint Smith has never looked back.  I never saw branch die-back though on any of them.  Has Glendoick heard about this?  Might be worth mentioning.

Here PM clears up once plants get outdoors permanently, one exception 'Golden Gate'.

john

[johnralphcarpenter]

Bought this at The Tree Shop in Argyll in April: Rhododendron 'Egret'.

[Yann]

I've visited a private collection of Rhododendron and Azalea, here're some shots.

[Yann]

as i'm not an expert in this genius i'll not be able to give you hybrids name

[Yann]

more of these beautiful rhododendron

[Yann]

Some colors are difficult to render through camera's lens

[Yann]

even more

[Yann]

look at that shrub, a ball of flowers

[Yann]

another batch of Azalea and Rhodo

[Yann]

a few more

[Yann]

red ones are difficult to capture

[Yann]

the last photos