Rhododendrons 2014

[Philip Walker]

R.falconeri-from seed and 1st flowers.

[Robert]

R.falconeri-from seed and 1st flowers.

Philip,

Amazing to see such a species flowering as such a young plant. Thank you for sharing the photograph. Where did the seed come from? Wild or domestic?

[Philip Walker]

Hi Robert.I'm not sure how old this plant is,but I do know that I left it and some others in their pots too long.Would that cause early flowering through stress?I sent one to a friend who put it in the ground.He says it is growing strongly but no signs of flowers.The seed would have come from a nursery,possibly Norfields.

[Robert]

Hi Robert.I'm not sure how old this plant is,but I do know that I left it and some others in their pots too long.Would that cause early flowering through stress?I sent one to a friend who put it in the ground.He says it is growing strongly but no signs of flowers.The seed would have come from a nursery,possibly Norfields.

Philip,

I'm no expert but it seems reasonable to think stress may have caused the rhododendron to bloom as such a small plant. After all they do want to survive or continue on. I have observed this in other plant species.

Another idea is that the plant might be a hybrid. I'm definitely not an expert on this. If its ID is important to you, you might what to check this out through the forum.

[Philip Walker]

Robert
Iwould imagine the seed was open pollinated,(I don't actually know though).I never mind being corrected on names.

[johnralphcarpenter]

I got this from Norfields years ago when they were in Monmouthshire; identity uncertain but believed to be Rhododendron yakushimanum 'Fred Peste'.

[johnw]

John  - It certainly looks like the hybrid 'Fred Peste'.  It's actually yak x haematodes.

johnw

[johnralphcarpenter]

Thanks Johnw.

[Maggi Young]

Some general garden pix with  rhodos  here

[johnralphcarpenter]

Does this colour combination work? I think so but I am a fan of Christopher Lloyd's planting style!

[Maggi Young]

Ralph, in our garden we spend  as much time worrying about colour combos as we do about taxonomy - so not a lot   

Life's too short for stressing about that stuff as you walk into your garden to recharge your batteries and uplift your soul 

[johnralphcarpenter]

How true!

[Robert]

Ralph,

Our gardening style was influenced by Masanabu Fukuoka when he visited California in 1986. Now we get to bed early and get a good nights sleep! 

A new candidate for our Pearl Series of deciduous azaleas. After 5 years it is less than 50cm tall, very floriferous, very fragrant. It will take a closer look at it for a few years to see if we keep it.

#2 Some easy elepidote rhododendrons:

We enjoy the fragrance of R. fortunei.

R. makinoi is a good foliage plant for us.

[Robert]

Another week to our Sacramento Valley garden/home and the local farmers' market. I'll take some liberties with the forum and show one of our fruit trees dripping with fruit (before thinning)this season. The year started with catastrophic drought conditions, however the rains in February and March have made the situation in our location much more manageable. Something to get a farmer smiling. 

#2 Another shot of a white R. decorum seedling.

Some of our old R. occidentale hybrids are starting to bloom: Pink Nightlife, we also have a White Nightlife and a Bi-colored Nightlife.

We also have some azalea hybrids that seem to hang around the garden despite not being anything special. Every time we think about pulling-out the White Hybrid it seems to be its bloom time. The flowers glow in the evening, especially when there is a full moon. The fragrance is fantastic. 

[Maggi Young]

Fruit crop doing very nicely, Robert - please don't tell me you grow great figs too or I'll have to cry.

I can't get over how early your R.  fortunei and  R. decorum are flowering compared to here. Two of the most lovely species are they not?