Rhododendrons are amenable shrubs. They’ll grow for any one of us, whether we are skilled gardeners or rank beginners, whether we have a thousand acres or the smallest of foundation plantings. But to grow them well, we must understand their requirements. Their native haunts are a clue to the kind of treatment they need in … Read more
If you were to order from a nursery a couple of dozen small rhododendrons and/or azaleas in the fall to grow in your garden for future landscaping purposes, how would you plant and prepare them for winter months ahead? Although spring is the orthodox season for planting rhododendrons, they can also be set out early … Read more
The two prominent rhododendron species range so widely up and down the Appalachians, through the Allegheny plateau and on into the fringes of Canada, Rhododendron catawbiense and Rhododendron maximum, have a counterpart in the Northwestern United States. Here, in the low and middle altitudes west of the Cascade Range, extending from northern California almost to … Read more
Factors affecting the growth of rhododendrons and azaleas are several, all of which are so bound together as to constitute a balanced system in which the plant’s growth is a measure of the whole. In marginal situations, where one factor or another is unsuitable for these plants, the balance may be upset, the conditions complicated … Read more
In the Northwest, over the last two decades, rhododendrons have become “everyman’s” shrubs. Gardeners in the Southwest are deprived of their beautiful flowers and the textural interest they create in the garden because they are not culturally suited to the area. The rhododendron family includes the azaleas (not treated here), and the species and named … Read more
On a recent trip abroad, I was privileged to see hundreds of rhododendrons and azaleas, most of which are unknown to the gardens of New England. These are species from the oriental hinterlands, and hybrids have been produced from there. Grown in England, Scotland, and Wales, they are mostly too tender for our cold climate, … Read more
“The purple petals, fallen in the pool,Make the black water, with their beauty gay,Here might the red-bird come, his plumes to cool,And court the flower that cheapens his array,Rhodora, if the sages ask thee whyThis charm is wasted on earth and sky.Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing,Then beauty is its own … Read more
Rhododendrons are among the most practical and most beautiful of all evergreen shrubs. This huge group of plants is so varied and versatile. They have a much wider variety of purposes in the landscape than the average gardener realizes. The popular conception of Rhododendrons is – they are large shrubs with big evergreen leaves and … Read more
Over a century ago, the word “rhododendron” was a name touched with magic, conjuring up images of mansions framed in priceless shrubberies, the utmost in beauty and exclusiveness. Today that magic is slowly fading from the name. What has happened? A wild shrub, Rhododendron maximum, with leaves resembling garden rhododendrons but with ungraceful stalks and … Read more
The Pacific Northwest is natural rhododendron country. In that narrow belt along the Pacific slope running from Vancouver and Victoria to San Francisco, the winters are tempered by warm waters. The air is moist year-round, there is very little extreme summer heat, and the soil is naturally acid. All this adds up to a perfect … Read more