Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Rhododendron and other Ericaceae => Topic started by: johnw on October 02, 2008, 03:53:22 PM
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I hesitate to post this shot of a solitary flower on Rhodothamnus chamaecistus today as there have some amazing photos of superbly grown plants smothered in flowers on the site - one from Bavaria and one stunner by Franz H. It's enough to make you weep. This is the first time it has ever bloomed out of season, must have been the bizarre summer weather.
Hope Hurricane Laura doesn't affect the gardens over there.
A chilly 14c today and rain on the way.
johnw
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You are not on your own John ... both of my rhodothamnus plants are now flowering out of season - one with six flowers and the other (slightly larger) plant with twelve or thirteen rather rain-battered blooms.
Captured this picture in the Dolomites in late July - and that seemed quite late for the area.
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...And how's this for a cultivated plant - exhibited at Midland AGS Show 2007 ....
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A little bit of 12 or 13-up-man-ship Cliff? :)
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Cliff - Exquisite plants, thanks. I see I have more buds swelling here, I guess next spring it will take a holiday. Barry Starling did Kalmiothamnus ornithoma - Kalmiopsis x Rhodothamnus, another beauty. I wish I had a shot of it.
johnw
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x Phylliopsis 'Sugar Plum'
(Oh why oh why did I not take that fallen leaf away!!)
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Is this the ususal time for this plant to be flowering?
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......it was just trying to cheer me up, Lesley.
(it can't read the books!!)
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...And how's this for a cultivated plant - exhibited at Midland AGS Show 2007 ....
Was it started from seed?
I tried many times without success and will try next time by sprinkling on damp spaghnam moss pot covered with plastic wrap..
stuart
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Unfortunately it wasn't my plant Stuart but I suspect it was propagated, like most of these gems, from a cutting...
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I have had best success with seed of Rhododendrons, Loiseleuria, Rhodothamnus and other small ericaceae by sowing them on a layer of grit over potting mix. When I've used the sterilized spaghnum method, the mosses take over way before the seed germinates so basically, it never does, while on grit, the tiny seedlings get going and are just about big enough to handle before the mosses are too big.
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I got my plants from the sale at the montreal botanic garden rhodo club they must have been a few years old.
I can't find granite grit locally here and I was never successful sowing with seed with grit on rhodo seed.
I use that coarse spaghnam peat moss and sprinkle the seed on top and keep it damp my misting with a spray bottle and cover it with a clear plastic supported by some sticks on the corners of the pot. I use my flourescent lights in the basement. the problem is getting the seedling out as the roots tangle when you try to transplant them as the seed is hard to spread out.
But since so many good little plants a reasonable price are available from the rhodo society here I don't grown many from seed now.
I thrown in a first blooming pix of a rhodo i got from one of those sales..
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Here are two of my present batches of seedlings sown on grit (seed on grit, not grit on seed).
First Rh. camschatcense album, over 50 seedlings when I counted yesterday and about a month old and Rh. keleticum, about 13 or 14 months. Time they were pricked out and potted. Because the compost under the grit is very gritty too, the little plants fall apart easily without root damage when I want to separate them.
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... And not a sign of moss or liverwort, Lesley ... superb!
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... And not a sign of moss or liverwort, Lesley ... superb!
? ? ? ? ? ? ? :-\ ;)
Super result Lesley. Did you keep the pots outside all the time?
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In fact, if you look carefully there is a dead liverwort at the lower edge of the keleticum pot but I painted it very carefully with vinegar solution (half plus half water) and it did for that little bit. Mosses do eventually come but they take a long time.
The keleticum has been outside in all weathers all its life but I started the camschaticum in my airy tunnel until I saw the first speck of green then put it out so it was sheltered in winter, mostly because we had so much wind this year and I thought the grit and seeds could blow away.
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Leslie,
beautiful seedlings...
I always first sprinkle small seed on top of grit then spray them in..I see seed clusters together... same problem I have.. makes hard to separate but if the soil mix is loose there is less damage separating.
wish I could find nice grit like you have... I also tried for seed of r. Kamchatka..
Is your ph fairly low in your mix as growth looks very healthy?
I find all the sand around here is very alkaline so I can't add much of that and use turface and perlite with peat moss..
I won't be able to put any seedlings out until late march until the freeze ends here.
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... And not a sign of moss or liverwort, Lesley ... superb!
? ? ? ? ? ? ? :-\ ;)
Many of my seed pots (especially those kept outside without cover) attract moss and liverwort within weeks of being sown, usually engulfing any tiny seedlings that condescend to appear ... and yes, it is raining again ...
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Here is what I have tried so that they don't dry out and get them to planting out size.
I put a few in a large 20" pot and over winter them in a plunge in my veggie bed.
R Ferrugineum vintage july 2004 about ready for the rockgarden coming spring.
In smaller pots they seem to grow to slow for me as I tend to forget watering
Any ideas what book would give me reliable minimum temperature hardiness for rhodo's
also give a good treatment of the species.
this one has -10C listed on the american rhodo society but it survived -20C here outside.
I have killed so many so called hardy ones some due to poor drainage trying to keep soil
moisture retentive over winter.
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Any ideas what book would give me reliable minimum temperature hardiness for rhodo's
also give a good treatment of the species.
this one has -10C listed on the american rhodo society but it survived -20C here outside.
I have killed so many so called hardy ones some due to poor drainage trying to keep soil
moisture retentive over winter.
Stuart - Poor drainage will knock out any rhododendron below and above freezing and quicker still in summer heat.
Writers are quick to tell one to which minimum temperature a rhodo will survive even when they live in a mild area. It is an excerise fraught with pitfalls. Will the plant survive to -18c but lose the flowers buds at -12c? One has to ask when does the cold arrive, is the ground frozen solid when the coldest temperature occurs, were the plants stressed from summer heat, did proper ripening occur in the autumn etc etc etc. It's a bloody minefield.
If you PM me a list I can give you an idea of what they will take here (with caveats understood!) or post here and we can see how others feels about the ratings.
johnw
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John,
To get the growth rate up on seedling over the summer in earlier years I used a very moisture retentive mix. I just left them on the patio in a big 20" pot then the winter thaw would come with the surface in water and the rest of the bottom of the pot frozen then of course it all froze again solid on the surface. My little seedlings with surface roots perished in the spring. Now I plunge them at a sloping angle over winter and have improved my own soil mix after reading was it John Gyer's book?.
Good moisture retention and drying out is hard get as we have a 2 week droughty period here...and even some I planted out that reached one foot died. I mulch with pine bark and cedar..
Its the smaller ones like fastiganum and wren.. that make it for two or years then used to die but my solution in growing out is progressive larger pots seems to be working. My list is in a earlier post.
The little one is a fastigatum and large without much foliage is kiusianum cheji island form rescued from snow load and stepping on.
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My potting mix is quite acid I think - I've never tested it - but a local Agresearch place did, some years ago and said it needed some lime for optimum plant growth. I never bothered with that. The grit itself, is sieved builders' sand which is quarried as solid rock locally and crushed. I buy it by the cubic metre and sieve out the larger stuff to put on my seed pots, the rest going into the potting mix or the garden, so it's probably acid to neutral as well.
Most of my seed are outside through the year in all weathers and I put shade cloth over the pots from mid spring though mid autumn, taking it off when it rains, which it isn't doing lately, or to water. But my lowest temps are around -6 or 7C so nothing to compare with Canadian or North American cold.
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Stuart - Moisture retentive mix is okay but you must get air into the mix which is critical. 50% ground pine bark or pine bark mulch, some perlite - say 10%, 40% coarse peat or better still 50/50 peat/coconut fibre (available at most big garden centres - Better Than Peat - and go for a coarse form of it) to make up the 40% required. For a 5 gallon pot a teaspoon of 0-20-0 superphosphate (Vigoro/So-Green brand, the others are treble superphosphate and far too hot). A little potato fertilizer.
Might I suggest you get your seed pots under cover for the winter as we do here. Plunge the pot to the rim in woodchips (available by the bale at Feed stores) in a cold frame. We pot high to avoid water lodging at the top of the pot when we remove the cover in March. Cover the frame tightly with white plastic after a thorough autumn soaking, this will keep the rain off and there will be virtually no drying out. We have very few loses unless the plants or crosses are too tender.
Now we plant directly into frames and cover with white plastic in early December. After 2-3 years the plants are planted out. Now that the snow has gone covering the frames will be this weekend. The Gunnera will get its winter home erected too.
I will post a shot of the frames if I can locate it.
If you need acidic grit try a local feed store, there are various grades - turkey grit, hen grit etc. - all okay as long as the grit is sharp (crushed - not smooth and roundish) which impairs drainage according to gritophile Steve Doonan.
johnw
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John,
yes the key in the rhodo book by john gryer I think his name is he is a phd rhodo grower in the usa said air space was key and the first thing I did was add perlite as I was using too much pine mulch which compressed after a few years decomposing..
I the local farmer suppliers of chicken girt is a marble type grit which is alkaline again.
What I like to do to get the growth up fast is liquid feed in the spring and have already added earlier to the soil as you suggested and I also use sulfur pellets to get the ph down. I'm getting fairly good growth since I changed by formula. I hand test them all..
The snow load is too heavy here for anything but a sturdy cold frame which I now leave open for my seedlings which has a coarse sand base.. last winter we had over 6 feet of snow.. the sloped pot plunge works nicely here.
What I really need now is a reliable way to get the ph lower without overshooting on the downside which I once did in a garden area or clay soil which I tried to also amend.. but it grower ericaeia ok.
Now that I got the soil mostly figured out I now am trying to get them in more sun so that they will flower better as the sun is at a low angle for most of the growing season except the midsummer when it can become droughty and kill most rhodo's.
I remember seeing someone with a rhodo plunged in a sand bed and in spring it was dead... lack of oxygen!
I'll post a pix tomorrow to show how I angle plunged on a mound some of my large and medium sized pots.
I used to have them in covered cold frames that I built but I still had the same problem of the midwinter thaw and rain!! soaking the pot and freezing it solid until spring when it would still be frozen in but with melting water on top. I could have put a plastic sheet over the frame cover but it would have frozen to the top shade cloth.
You have very good suggestions and a little more space than I have to overwinter seedlings.
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Stuart - These are observations from here only and assumptions as well.
Rhodo hanceanum v. nanum 0F – not hardy in Halifax, the rating sounds about right as an absolute bottom.
Rhodo aborescens – never damaged even inland at Kentville, NS where it has flowered after at least -25F
Rhodo Algo – not quite as hardy as PJM, brittle when young, needs sharp drainage as do all the PJM types, -20F or lower
Rhodo Autumn Velvet – could this be Violet instead of Velvet?
Rhodo canadense - native here and have seen it in western Newfoundland where it must see -35 or less (very heavy snow cover there)
Rhodo complexum ss. Lapponica -10F, about right, buds maybe -5F, never damaged here
Rhodo Counterpoint -30F - a deciduous PJM, possibly as hardy as PJM but no experience here
Rhodo fastiagatum -15F, plant and buds
Rhodo ferrungineum - buds -15F, the plant probably colder circa -25F
Rhodo Girard's Hot Shot – not reliable long term in Halifax, rated around -15F but ripening in the fall can be an issue
Rhodo groendlanicum – must see -40F and lower in the north.
Rhodo Hellikki – Helsinki hardy but a very poor performer here. Peter Tigerstedt told me he wishes it had not been released, a poor commercial plant for container production, buds can move in the fall, rated to -34F, ok in southern New Brunswick to Fredericton.
Rhodo impeditum -15F about right, buds maybe a few degrees less, never damaged here
Rhodo intricatum -15F, about right, buds maybe -5F, never damaged here
Rhodo July Joy - bakeri x prunifolium, probably -20F or lower
Rhodo Kermesina Rosea – kiusinaum hybrid doing well in colder parts of NS where lows can go to -15F
Rhodo kiusianum -15f maybe a few degrees lower (and less with snow cover) – for an evergreen azalea second only to pukhanense in hardiness. I believe it’s ok at Alpines Mt Echo in Sutton, PQ
Rhodo Lemon Drop - nice plant, has taken -20F inland here.
Rhodo mucronulatum - see below, about the same
Rhodo mucronulatum (Cheju Island form) – has taken -15F inland here with no problems, can’t recall plant damage on any mucronulatum in NS, needs a dryish site here or at least sharp drainage, blooms very early and can be caught by late frosts where prevalent.
Rhodo Nova Zembla – bud hardy to at least -15 but can blast buds in mild winters here, have seen it defoliated here in mild winters and perform perfectly in extremely cold winters, the one rhodo I love to hate
Rhodo Narcissiflora - -20F, no problem in NS but must have hardiness issues as it stays mainly below the snowline in PEI
Rhodo Patty Bee – plant -15F, buds -5 to -10
Rhodo Pink Dawn - the Shamarello hybrid? - if so think it is very very tough but some of his hybrids are bad actors here. Have never seen a Sham hybrid as good-looking as those growing in his native Ohio.
Rhodo PJM compacta – slightly less hardly than PJM itself. I believe, maybe -30F
Rhodo Pohjola's Daughter – another Finnish hybrid and a bad actor, again I have seen this damaged here in several gardens after a long autumn followed by a not so cold winter,
Rhodo Popsicle - a late Weston azalea, should easily take -25f
Rhodo prunifolium – considered in the books to be tender but inland has survived -17F here, buds may be more like -5
Rhodo Sericho – didn’t know this and couldn’t find it anywhere. Then realized it must be Jericho, a Leach hybrid between carolinianum and keiskei. Another cranky one for drainage and isn’t a particularly good do-oer here but is hardy enough. Have seen two good plants about. Theoretically should be hardy to -25F or a bit less.
Rhodo Thunder - a very tempermental dark leafed PJM, highly susceptible to root rot, needs sun and extremely good drainage here. Not believed to be as hardy as PJM itself but the plants cited may have died from cultural conditions rather than cold.
Rhodo Towhead – another tempermental plant needing exceptional drainage. I know of only 2-3 good looking examples of it locally. Buds -10F, plant maybe -15 or lower are my guesses
Rhodo Wren – a star performer for me but many consider it cranky, good drainage and half day of sun. Has never missed a year here. -10 plant, buds -5 or lower.
Rhodo Apricot Surprise – rated to -35F, Minnesota hardy. Complaints of autumn flowers in the USA.
Rhodo NorthernStarburst - a tetraploid PJM and a nightmare to grow, needs very sharp drainage, ploidy levels have significantly reduced the hardiness it should have. Some say -10 to 15F usually dead before winter arrives.
Rhodo Oudijiks Favourite – Leonardslee rates it at +5F which sounds reasonable given the parentage
Rhodo Patty Bee - -10F plant, -5 or aq bit less for the buds
Rhodo Pink Discovery – actually a selection of poukhanense by Weston Nurseries, should easily take -20F or less. Have never seen a pouk damaged here on the coast.
For what it's worth.
johnw
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John,
A big thank you.
That explains a lot of hits and misses... can't seem to keep impetatum alive killed 3 but my neighbors survives for years..on a slope
You are right on the bud hardiness a there is unreliable flowering on many, and with my mainly clayey soil and giving up on trying to water these plants are more for my appreciation of their form and foliage.
What is your minimum temperate and it is drought by midsummer there and do you experience same freeze and dry winter cycles or are you a mostly maritime climate?
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What is your minimum temperate and it is drought by midsummer there and do you experience same freeze and dry winter cycles or are you a mostly maritime climate?
Stuart - The coldest winter ever was 1993 when we dropped to -15F in late January after a mild start to winter. Intense cold and wind continued into early April, old Ilex aquifoliums in the city froze to the ground and then recovered. Mercifully we had a foot of snow the night before the cold came so the ground was not frozen.
We are plagued every winter by storms (every 5 days or so) accompanied by wind. Snow cannot be relied upon, we 40" in one day several years ago. We have wild temperature fluctuations during the winter as these storms roar through and out. Rain changing to snow and vice versa.
We are a schizoid maritime climate. Spring and summer are quite maritime with no really hot days and cool nights. It can be briefly continental in winter when the storms suck in cold air to the north and northwest, then we are back to maritime. So cold (below 0F) usually occurs only at night and rarely lasts long. Normally our low is around 0F or slightly less.
Our rainfall is substantial and both it and our fog (114 days a year here in Halifax!) help the rhodos out a great deal. Once one leaves the coast by even a kilometer the moderating effect of the ocean in winter can evaporate.
I also have a planting near Yarmouth, NS where spring comes earlier, summer is cooler and winter cold is very brief - probably the mildest area east of the lower mainland of BC where species like rex are happy as clams. More fog than Hfx. Maggi finds fog spooky!
johnw
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Maggi finds fog spooky!
That's because fog IS spooky!
Stuart, you mention repeatedly about summer drought in your area..... is this not much more likely to be a problem than the freezing in winter?
Of course, some species are more susceptible to frost than others but if the plants are also subject to great stress in summer, through drought, then they cannot possibly be strong enough in the winter to withstand the bad conditions then.
At the momen here in Aberdeen is i bright sunshine and the temperature is approx. -4 degrees C...... outside the window as I type this I can see the leaves of rhodos rolled up like cigars and hanging ow...... I can see bureauvii, williamsianum, a taliense x lacteum cross, yakushimanum and smirnowii...and even this last one, which is really a tough cookie, is rolled today :(
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John,
we have similar cold hardiness in winter and variations but your advantage is cooler summer on coast... so your hardiness the bursting of moisture in cell walls of woody structures without enough naturally adapted antifreeze would be similar at 0F
barring exposure to colder winds.
Maggi,
The fall is usually quite damp and rainy here.. I lost one due to drought as it was hidden behind another larger rhodo... and I was not in the ground more than a year altho it was one foot tall and I must have forgot it in the watering can run...
I think the sun is important to harden it off after summer growth, but the culprit is likely the neighbors huge maples at the fence line in the back sucking out moisture at a faster rate than replenishment requires..
I have 3 small cold frames I built, one thing is that they should not be in too shady a location as 2 are here and they are in one of the last places to defrost in winter so I keep one less shady one for cutting and some saxifrages or other slow and moisture requiring plants and a few woodies, the floor has a sand base. The other one in more shade is holding area for overwintering seedpots which get moved to more shade and then I use it for a first stage hardienng off area for plants coming from the basement lights in springtime, and transplants and cutting growth.
Its john greer's book I used for hardiness that I used and wondered if that is about right.
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Maggi finds fog spooky!
That's because fog IS spooky!
Maggi - Mysterious maybe but not spooky. You've been reading too much Sherlock Holmes.
johnw
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Maggi finds fog spooky!
That's because fog IS spooky!
Maggi - Mysterious maybe but not spooky. You've been reading too much Sherlock Holmes.
johnw
Got it in one, John .... I ADORE "whodunnits" and crime thrillers [attach=1]
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By the way, in my book...mysterious IS spooky! [attach=1]
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Stuart - You could easily convert one of your frames for winter seedlings. All you would need is a sheet of 3/4" plywood on top then white plastic. This way the snowload issue would be solved. As you can see I won't give up! You will be shocked at the survival rate.
Our constant mists and fog certainly help the rhodos through dry summer stretches. See photo!
I was happy to see your comment on the role of nearby maple roots. Here we are on shallow mineral soil and people grow norway maples and let Scot's elm seed about. Both have vigorous root systems and they wonder why their gardens don't perform, heap the compost to them and guess who gets the benefit.
Michel André Otis from the Montreal Botanic Garden gave a lecture here several years ago on creating a woodland garden. He spent much time on how greedy tree roots can defeat your attempts (and he had good deep soil). It was a mighty impressive talk and perhaps the only one I've heard that dealt with real problems. We must get him back again.
Maggi is dead on - weakened plants are the most likely ones to be winter damaged and especially ones with root damage or a shakey root system.
johnw - +8c & sunny
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By the way, in my book...mysterious IS spooky! (Attachment Link)
Okay, we're an eerie lot but remember who settled and named the province!
johnw
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John,
I agree that a cover will lower the hardiness zone temperatures.. probably to +10C temperature difference..
The result will be that marginally hardy small seedlings will survive, but still only if tilted otherwise water will still accumulate during meltdown periods.
What happened during the ice storm was that all the covered frames froze solid and I had to use an axe to cut the ice off in the spring as I want to get my plants out as soon as possible.. I just read information confirming this in my local rhodo bulletin the sooner out of the frame the better. this area stays frozen later than other areas so I would be damaging an already rotting frame top... it's an idea I might try..
but the plants I already have are a few years old and not undeveloped seedlings or rare things I would like to keep and try when larger..
I know Michel Andre Otis I understand that he is now retired from working at the montreal botanic gardens.
He visited me here. he recommended I do a dry garden area as roots are a losing battle. I have developed a pseudo-woodland as you can't fight the large maples and I can't really grow anything beyond spring plants in the area nearest the fence. Its a birch forest, yes I know more shallow roots but it works. Further out 15 feet or more I have tried a rhodo area.. I even have my own maple shading the area to make matters worse,(it shades the patio so I can sit there-not often tho) its mid-late afternoon sun.. PJM compacta in a shady part flowers quite well.. the others rather sporadic.
Maggi
Newer plants in the garden usually don't even get a chance to make it to the fall if watering of the ones not yet established less than a year are neglected for too long with watering during the dry spell. the others suffer on and survive the winter remarkably well, alto the growth rates are painfully slow. It was mostly the ones in a big pot without good drainage that I fixed by reworking the soil mix.
I put 4-5 smaller plants in one large 20" pot that is quite deep on the back patio so I can watch over them and as the large mass of ideal soil will not dry up as fast as garden planted or potted plants they seem to do well. Some of these containers have a self watering catch at the bottom that has to be emptied when it rains. Now when they get too big for the 20" pot they go into 6-8"pots and plunged into the ground near the veggie patch so they can get water with the blueberries..or in the garden.
So I juice them up a bit with liquid feed fertilizer in springtime..
Do you know if the book Hardy rhododenron species by james cullen has temperate ratings?
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You all make me envious of your conditions and your wonder plants.
my neighbor around the corner has a larger collection of rhodo's than I and I asked him what was his recorded lowest temperate last winter -25C and the year before -27C at night of course..
So I best be on the lookout for the hardiest and continue to place them in micro-climate locations.
Was just reading about R. sichtonense which resembles r. dauricum that buds damaged at -25C and in the local garden here and the next year while he was on vacation and he lost it due to drought.
Do any of you know if rhodo seed remains viable after storage for a few years? I tried to sow 4year old seed.
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Sorry, Stuart, I have no knowledge of longterm viablility of rhodo seed.
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Stuart - If you collect seed and place it in a glassine envelope and into a tightly sealed jar it will keep for several years. It can also be placed in the freezer and will last a very long time. Generally lepidote and vireya seed is short-lived and should be sown rather quickly. There will be exceptions. If seed gets moist it is kaput.
johnw
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John,
Thanks.
I was concerned as the seed is so small and does not appear to have a coating so I was thinking that the germination rate would be much lower, something under 40%. I just was allowed a purchase of surplus seed and took the chance since most were only 1-2 years old and being offered at a very minimal cost I hope.
None seem to be in that category.
Here is what I selected, hopefully they will still be available, some are wild collected in China.
veseyi
tschonoski
tomentosum
camtschaticum
dauricum
saluenense
lapponica
wittronii
I'm going to use finely milled peat moss and perlite, turface mix under lights with a dome.
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Stuart - You would be better off sowing on coarse peat or live green sphagnum moss. Prick them out when the second true leaf is developed as at this point you can transplant them and tear roots with impunity. It seems at that point they have a brief state of dormancy. Then pot into a suitable mix. A communal pot or flat seems preferable to single plants per pot. Air, air, air.... easy on the perlite as some say fluorine is in it. Rhodo seedlings love company and the extra roots probably keep the mix from getting stagnant (not a terribly scientific explanation) - in other words better pot bound than over-potted.
wittronii - might be wiltonii, an elepidote in Taliensia or an old lepidote hybrid wilsonii which looks rather pieresque.
johnw
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John,
You are correct on coarse spagham as it was always successful earlier.
I have finely milled peat made for plug culture but will have to test it to see if air gaps are good.
I will be looking for coarse peat but milled to a medium size which I think is better for pot culture, although its difficult to find here.
Using long stranded peat makes it hard to separate seedlings but I guess I shouldn't worry about root damage even at second leaf stage where I usually transplant.
Another novel way I used to use was a whetted clump of just very coarse spagham and by the first leaf scissor around the roots and place into my mix.
Wiltonii my typo.
thanks again.
This will keep me busy in the winter so I won't get cabin fever being snow bound!
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Anyone know where I can find a good taxon.. tree on the web beside the ARS which does not look complete as I am still to looking for a good book on the genus that will show hardiness. hybrids etc.
I found some old ferrugeium seed and only have one plant so I'd like to know if its still viable being just stored at room temperate.
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Just read on the RHS Rhodo group that seed stored at 2C or less is viable for up to five years.
Well anyways found coarse peat and sowed by old seeds.
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I see that the ontario rockgarden society is recommending a technique very similar to what I have used!
"cut clear pop bottle in half, sprinkle seed on 10 cm damp sphagnum moss, cover with plastic; transplant seedling to acid mix in shade outdoors when 5 cm high; protect from rodents and give protection in cold frame first winter."
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Anyone know where I can find a good taxon.. tree on the web beside the ARS which does not look complete as I am still to looking for a good book on the genus that will show hardiness. hybrids etc.
I found some old ferrugeium seed and only have one plant so I'd like to know if its still viable being just stored at room temperate.
I use this dictionary by Herb Spady rather frequently to check out old names and subsections.
http://www.mossin.dk/gert/rhododict.html (http://www.mossin.dk/gert/rhododict.html)
The Cox's Encyclopaedia of Rhododendron Species and also their Rhododendron Hybrids are useful. The former with British Hardiness rating but quite accurate for here and the latter we had some input on performance and hardiness for the east here. Ken Cox has a new book out, well in the last 2-3 years or so, and the latest cultivars, he sorts out the good from the bad and pulls no punches.
Check his website out for the book list.
www.glendoick.com (http://www.glendoick.com)
You might pick these books up on sale at Chapters or Indigo, the former book is out of print I believe so you might try abebooks.
johnw - hideous weather here, +6c and rain after a very cold day yesterday. Frigid on Tuesday and monsoons for the rest of the week. Crazy.
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John,
I found some sphaghum moss the term for formerly live moss which I have used in the past and planted my seed in a 288 plug tray under lights 72F and now 95% humidity with the top on about 8 inches from the lights.
I was going to try half using decomposed sphagnum peat moss, it is dark brown, but when I measured two packages I bought they both were ph6, with each of my meters and when I went to the store the horticulturalist also measured ph6 and just shrugged. I was expecting ph3.5-4.5. I have now contacted both companies to see if they are neutralized as someone in my alpine club said they do that but it is not marked on the packaging!
They do not sell coarse composted peat as it is not marked on the package and this would have to be amended as you suggest.
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After about 13 days now I am getting seed germination on dried and re-wetted living sphagham as you can see the white spidery web growth but the seedlings are still emerging and looking good so far.
What I have done is raise the dome a inch to increase circulation. Humidity was about 70% at 72F.
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Keep 'em going, Stuart!!
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A little rhododendron fix for Maggi et al.
The vireya Rhododendron Tropic Glow x saxifragoides in bloom today. The photos are slightly out of focus but I am not going out to the greenhouse again in the bitter cold to re-shoot. I got two clones of this from a friend in California. After more than 10 years both are only 4 inches tall and wide, the flowers as you can see are quite large. We were surprised to see the same cross at the RBGE in the Vireya House.
I wonder who grows the delectable species R. saxifragoides - a wonderful mat with campylogynum type flowers.
johnw.
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Ah, John, you've made this woman very happy Thank you! What a little cutie.... so compact, but biggish flowers, and bright enough that you could see from a mile away.....perfect!
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Maggi - The colour is a tad strident but strident / fluorescent is fine at this time of year.
This one is the better of the two for habit. I can send you a cutting in the summer. They root easily in a plastic bag.
They usually bloom twice a year.
johnw
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The colour is a tad strident but strident / fluorescent is fine at this time of year.
Yes, but in something that size, even in summer I could take it!
Actually, if you saw my wardrobe...... :-[ well, let's just say you're having a lucky escape! :-X ::)
A cutting would be VERY gratefully received, thank you.... I will try to remind you!
M
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The colour is a tad strident but strident / fluorescent is fine at this time of year.
Yes, but in something that size, even in summer I could take it!
Actually, if you saw my wardrobe...... :-[ well, let's just say you're having a lucky escape! :-X ::)
A cutting would be VERY gratefully received, thank you.... I will try to remind you!
M
Duly noted for early June.
johnw
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One of my favourites Menzesia ciliicalyx v. purpurea dwarf form from Barry Starling. The colour seems darker this year.
Just a half hour ago the house was as dark as at midnight, a good thunderstorm and now the sun is was is shining. Cannot seem to write fast enough on sunshine here.
johnw
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That's a lovely form John. I'm looking forward to it. ;D
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Vaccinium vitis-idaea var. minor 'Betsy Sinclair' is colouring her berries already, usually a late August event. This selection from Newfoundland - a neighboring province I should note- has the potential when well grown to set massive amounts of berries.
johnw
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John,
Just been backtracking through the thread. Great plants you're playing with out there. 'Betsy Sinclair' looks terrific!
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One of my favourites Leucothoe keiskei. This we grew from SRGC96-2455 seed and ken has used them in gardens about town.
johnw - +23c and feeling like Savannah.
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johnw, that's a nice one! I have another (fontanesiana) which is good too, but not like that.
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Hoy - This one promises to stay rather small I think. We have some older ones and they are no more than 75cm across.
The first time I saw L. fontanesiana was in the garden at Woodland Nurseries in Mississauga, Ontario. It was maybe 3m tall and 5m across!
Beauitful bureavii by the way.
johnw
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The first time I saw L. fontanesiana was in the garden at Woodland Nurseries in Mississauga, Ontario. It was maybe 3m tall and 5m across!
johnw
Crikey! That's a fair old size. I'm surprised. (mind you, that happens all the time!)
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I know heather beds are not very fashionable but they do give some colour at this time of year. My heather bed is over 20 years old and badly needs renovating. One of those jobs to do when I retired (only 8 years ago ;D).
Erica manipuliflora was badly damaged by the snow the winter before last and I thought I had dug it out. This plant is away from it's original site but I'm not sure if it is a layer or a seeedling.
The first Calluna vulgaris could be a named cultivar or a seedling. I haven't traced it back to see where it starts.
The gold one is a seedling with very bright pink flowers. Not sure if they go with the gold foliage. It's not flowering well this year because it was deer pruned last winter.
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Seen in my friend Leona's garden last week
Menziesia ciliicalyx
She can't remember buying it :o
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x Phylliopsis hillieri 'Pinocchio'
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This great local selection of Vaccinium vitis-idaea v. minus 'Betsy Sinclair' is already colouring up here. It stays nice and compact. I'd rate it second only to the Award of Merit Form as selected by Barry Starling. As one might guess both were found in Newfoundland.
Is the AM Form in circulation in the UK?
johnw
23c, sunny and very dry here.
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In order to give John a reply I did a search on The Plantfinder (am I a fool!!). We now have a revised version I find, that was, perhaps, designed and put together by a kindergarten programmer. Vaccinium are spread over 30 pages, ten to each page, so a lot of Vaccinium. This is not helped by the same variety being listed more than once and sometimes listed the first time with no suppliers shown against it and the second time with suppliers shown against it. This from the "premier" horticultural organisation in the country: a joke >:(
Right, rant over. John, here's what I dug out and thought I would let you have the lot in the order that I got it.
Vaccinium vitis-idaea Koralle Group- 5 suppliers shown
" " " - 6 suppliers shown
" " " var. minus Listed once with no suppliers and then a second time with 4 suppliers
" " " 'Compactum' 2 suppliers shown
" " " 'Red Pearl' 6 suppliers shown
" " " 'Variegatum' no suppliers shown
" " " 'Autumn Beauty' 1 supplier shown
" " " 'Masovia' no suppliers shown
" " " 'Gillian Dennis' no suppliers shown
" " " ssp minus 'Betty Sinclair' no suppliers shown
" " " 'Ida' listed three times with a varying numbers of suppliers including none at all!
" " " 'Red Candy' listed twice
" " " Erntetraum' 1 supplier shown
" " " 'Red Shank' 1 supplier shown
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I think you did well to persevere to get that, David. The "new, improved" RHS website is a flippin' nightmare to my mind.
Also a lot of the search answers generally ( not in the Plant Finder) only lead to a name - something in common with the AGS encyclopaedia where one can look up "A" to be told "see B", only to look up B to be told "see C" and under "C" one finds "See A" :'( :P :-X
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David - Well done, that's an impressive list.
I'd bet Barry Starling was the only supplier for some of those selections. I vaguely remember getting 'Gillian Dennis' (the variegated one!) and 'Red Shank' from him years ago. Last year there was a shot of one at a Scottish show and it was shown by a forumist - both names escape me.
Thanks again
johnw
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Vaccinium vitis-idaea v. minus 'Betsy Sinclair' slowly colouring its berries after a brutally dry May to August.
johnw
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I assume the berries are edible John? Very pretty.
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I assume the berries are edible John? Very pretty.
David - They certainly are and make a fantastic pie if you like tart. They make a great jam as well. It's the dwarf version of the European lingonberry.
Newfoundland is the foxberry capital; while plentiful here they harvest them in a big way in Nfld. I can go to the Newfoundland store here and buy a 1kg bag of frozen foxberries for about $8, enough to make 2 pies.
johnw
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Cheers John, made me feel hungry.
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Pernettya 'Pearls ' planted on a peatblock shows his ripe berries ...
[attachimg=1]
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Such a good little plant. 8)
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Such a good little plant. 8)
Oh yes , I love it Maggi .
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Wonderful Kris. Another masterpiece from Mr. Starling.
johnw
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Cassiope 'Muirhead '
[attachimg=1]
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re: Muirhead
An off-year for flowers Kris? ;)
Incroyable!
johnw
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re: Muirhead
An off-year for flowers Kris? ;)
Incroyable!
johnw
:D ;D 8)
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re: Muirhead
An off-year for flowers Kris? ;)
Incroyable!
johnw
Sometimes flowering is quit modest but this year is not so bad John ....