Rhododendrons & Azaleas

We attended the Antigonish Garden Club meeting last Monday to give  a talk on Rhododendrons and Azaleas. We presented some of the varieties of both that are currently available to Atlantic gardeners, and added some information regarding cultural techniques.

Here are some of the salient features of the presentation taken as screen shots from Power Point. Look for several links to external images and for information files.

We presented several examples of rhododendrons that are early bloomers. One of the most common being 'PJM'.

We also introduced the species R. mucronulatum as the earliest bloomer (about the first of May most years). This semi-deciduous species is not readily available commercially, but we have grown many from seed over the years. They need a bit of publicity to become better known. They bloom in shades of pink/ mauve/purply shades as well as white.

This plant behaves much like a deciduous azalea, but is indeed a rhodie. The white version reminds one of a cloud of butterflies.

some of the other early bloomers mentioned included 'April Rose', 'Manitau', 'Ramapo', and 'Sue Gunn'.
Among the mid-late season bloomers presented were a mix of seedlings grown here and named varieties. One of those is affectionately known as "Sproeten".

"Sproeten" has a sister that we deem even more attrative. We have dubbed her "Ruby Lemon".

We have grown many seed lots over the years where the hybridizer aimed for yellow. This has been a bit of an elusive goal in many instances, especially for plants fully hardy in our zone. For a few more samples of seedlings have a look at this post.

Also of interest are the newer varieties of Finnish Hybrids that have become available in recent years.

Three of the most popular are below. To see a list of some available rhododendrons and azaleas here in Atlantic Canada follow the link.The list is a guideline and is in no way complete. Varieties will vary year to year and nursery to nursery.

 No discussion of rhododendrons grown here would be complete without some mention of some late-blooming varieties. These include several of the so-called "Ironclads", which have been a staple in gardens for many years.

Our personal favourite is the late blooming R. maximum hybrid 'Red River'.  It blooms in July well after the majority of others have finished.

The foliage aspect of rhododendrons is a great part of their beauty as garden plants. They help to give the garden year round interest.

Since foliage is an important  factor in rhododendron culture, we thought it important to point out some features.
Foliage is especially interesting at the "new growth" stage in spring and early summer.

Many types of rhododendrons exhibit foliage features associated with indumentum.This is a wooly feature on the underside of the leaf and sometimes on flower buds. It will usually persist for the life of the leaf. The leaf below left is from R. bureauvii.

Some species and hybrids also have a fuzzy coating on the new growth leaf surfaces called tomentum. It can be in shades of silvery gray to cinnamon. It will gradually wear away in the months to come. The image on the left below exhibits the "tomentum" on a R. pachysanthum hybrid.

Selecting plants that exhibit these features has been a goal of hybridizers over the years.
R. yakushimanum is the most prominent "donor" of such characteristics.

A few examples of "yak hybrids" are included below.

AZALEAS are just as popular here in our garden as rhododendrons and for the majority of gardeners a bit easier to manage. We often like to say they are a bit "idiot-proof"! This plant below is a pretty, fragrant azalea and is the first to bloom every year. It was grown from seed several years ago, but we have no idea of its origins. It also seems reluctant to set seed, so we haven't been able to get more. Some layering or cuttings will have to be attempted.

A few Azalea virtues.

Here are few examples of "variety"

In recent years there have been quite a large number of interesting azalea varieties introduced. Of these, those associated with the Northern Lights Series are some of the best.

The two examples above are just two of many.

Nurseries all over our area will have quite reasonable selections of this group of azaleas.You might like to check this article by Todd Boland.
No discussion of azaleas could omit our favourite....that being 'Homebush'. This is one of the most highly rated azaleas of all time and after many years of being difficult to find is now quite readily available.
It's distinctive ball-shaped truss and vigorous habit, make it a standout plant here in our garden.

Over the last few years we have been making an effort to choose azaleas that will extend the bloom period. There are several varieties available that are hybrids of late blooming native azaleas. Many of these will bloom well into July. 'Popsicle', 'Pennsylvania' and 'July Jester' are a few .

Included in the presentation was some discussion regarding successful cultivation of both Rhododendrons and Azaleas. 
A brief overview is below.

Everyone was given a reprint of the "bible" of Growing Rhododendrons in Atlantic Canada. All the information contained therein can be accessed from the Atlantic Rhododendron & Horticultural Soc website. Click the various links on the main page.
Thus endeth the lesson!

Fun with Rhododendrons

This winter we have accessed a site from The Netherlands called hirsutum.info which has been providing a gradual compilation of information on a very large number of rhododendron hybrids, species, azalea and other "rhodie cousins".

Anyone can access the basic information.  There is an option to sign in to create an account where you can compile a "My Garden" area. Here you may choose from the database the variety you choose and add your own info wrt acquisition, sources, number of plants, where it grows and so on. 

Each entry will then be accessible and editable. There are images for many varieties included in the database.

One can easily submit information if a variety we own is not in the database.

Images are also accepted . One can choose to have a "personal" image attached to your entry or one that existed already.

A recent addition to the info was the inclusion of bloom period. Grabbing the inclusive dates of bloom from 2009 proved to need quite a bit of approximation.

I rely upon pictures of plants to show the bloom period. An image taken at the colourful bud stage gives quite a good indication of the start time. This image of the buds of 'Red River'  looked like this June19th....a fairly good "beginning".

 

Finding another that is near the end hasn't always been so easy. This pic was taken at the "full bloom" stage on July7th. Adding a few days to that date is, I hope, a fair approximation.

Currently there is a space to add bloom time for the upcoming 2010 bloom season.

Perhaps this will be an incentive to actually keep better records....either image wise or as an entry in a computer file. 

I do expect I am not the only one who doesn't juduciously record the precise start and end date for their rhododendrons and azaleas!

Currently there are a number of "My Garden" contributions from both North America and Europe. Some have quite a lot of additions, some very few.

It has been very easy to transfer the basic info  for each plant submitted to an excel file which can easily be added to. I look forward to a comparison of the back to back years.

On the hirsutum site, any entry where someone has entered bloom dates shows the average number of days and how many contributions led to that number.

Since these bits of data come from growers all over the world, one would expect quite a range.

There are many websites with a lot of of information about rhododendrons and azaleas. This one seems appealing because it is somewhat interactive.

A slow week

This week has been rather slow in many respects.

We did get snowtires installed, which is a good thing, I guess.

Bill has been busy making Apple Wine the last week and a half, so perhaps we shall have to pursue that project.

We are quite disenchanted by the small number of seeds we have received for the Rhododendron Soc. Seed Exchange. I hope others magically appear in short order.

Word has it that the seeded Rhododendrons have mostly sprouted.....babies for Bill to nurture for another winter.

I have spent quite some time trying to pick out 10-12 pictures for the "show & tell" at the next Rhodie Meeting, quite the challenge with so many to choose from.

It seems we settled on pics of the plants we sent off to be propagated via the Society. This is one favourite we have nicknamed "Ruby Lemon".We chose a few azalea pics as well, they always make life a lot brighter in June.