Thanks Anthony, that's good news. Now I'm back on GC I'm beginning to suffer from my current lack of garden so I want to get some troughs/pots going.
@Sheal, Certainly where I am the fancy coloured leaved ones do not come through winter.I am not sure if it's winter wet (favourite as the problem) or cold that is the culprit. I do however grow sightly fancier ones in big whisky barrels,=s pretty near perfect drainage and they are ok. In the garden the likes of Palace Purple and Plum Pudding varieties are fine but not the more extreme colours like Ginger Ale and Lime something which legged up their 1st winter. If you are growing them in pots and maybe sheltered by your house they might be ok.
@silu I would have a tendency to agree with your post. Mine have a tendency to do the same during winter.
Thanks Silu, I'll keep that in mind. What I need to do now is locate a decent nursery to get things started.
Not exactly sure where you are atm? Are you near Inverness? If so I am of zero help as no idea of what you have around that area. If you are anywhere near Dundee/Perth then there is Glendoick which is fabulous for Rhododendrons and Azaleas but also do most of the usual stuff. If you like Rhodies etc then it is well worth a visit to their gardens in the spring. They have vast amounts of wonderful specimens, many collected by Ken Cox's forebears who were world authorities on these plants. The grounds were planted many years ago and with the shelter of trees planted they can grow many quite tender varieties. I have visited about 4 times and go pea green walking round as round every flaming corner there is yet another corker!
Thanks Silu. I'm a couple of miles north of Inverness. I spotted a road sign to a local nursery last week so if the rain holds off tomorrow I'll be wending my way there. Mr S and I hope to stay in the area when we buy our own place and looking at the gardens here they are good for Rhodo's and Azalea's which speaks a lot about the soil. I don't have a garden at the moment so a few pots and may be a trough or two are the way to go. I don't want to shift to much when we move again.
