RHODODENDRONS
(Last updated 7/2/03)
Rhodies and azaleas bloom in my neighborhood
from early March into June. Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden,
bordering Reed College in the Eastmoreland area in southeast Portland,
contains more than 600 varieties
Started in 1950 by the Portland chapter
of the American Rhododendron Society, the original garden was
located on an island - called "The Island" - in a spring-fed
lake; a new portion known as "The Peninsula" was dedicated
in 1977.
The Garden provides a frequent backdrop
for calendars and weddings; here a pair of models pose for a Japanese
photography shoot (right)
Rhododendron is derived from the Greek:
"rhodon" - rose, and "dendron" - tree.
The genus (belonging to the heath family)
is one of the largest and most diverse in the plant kingdom, consisting
of over 900 species distributed from Siberia to Australia
The greatest concentration of both
species and individuals occurs in southeast Asia and the Himalayas;
North America has about 28 native species, Europe
4, South America and Africa none
Some Himalayan species reach 100 ft.
or more in height, with leaves up to 3 ft. long; dwarf species
like the diminutive 'Alpine Rose' from Switzerland are only a
few inches tall, with leaves just over 1/3 inch long
R. hirsutum, from the European Alps,
was the first cultivated species (1656). In 1800 there were still
only twelve species from Europe and North America under cultivation
But that picture changed in 1809 when
R. catawbiense (below), the Mountain Rosebay, a wild rhodie from
North Carolina, was used by European hybridizers to introduce
hardiness into garden varieties
Over the next fifty years the tree
species R. arboreum, with blood-red flowers, was introduced from
India (1811), R. molle (1823) and the even hardier R. fortunei
(1856) arrived from China, R. zeylanicum was brought from Ceylon
(1832), and almost 50 species were introduced from the Himalayas.
Today the most widely available rhododendrons - propagated from
cuttings or tissue culture - are still hybrids of the above
Azaleas, which also belong to the genus
Rhododendron, are native to North America and Asia; they can usually
be distinguished from rhodies by their leaves, which are more
pointed and visibly hairy underneath, and by the number of stamens
in their flowers - usually five, compared with the ten or more
found in rhodies. There are two distinctly different types. Evergreens
flower in white, pink, red, and purple, and are generally easy
to propagate
Deciduous azaleas, often called Exburys
as a result of the popularity of the hybrids developed at the
UK gardens of the same name by Lionel de Rothschild starting in
1934, flower in these same colors plus yellow and orange, and
are much more cold hardy, but are generally harder to propagate
Interesting links: The
Rhododendron Page |
American Rhododendron
Society
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