Show us your Rhododendrons

It's that time of year when my Rhodos start opening and the garden becomes a profusion of colour

Bit later than usual this year, but already I've got some dwarf Rhodos flowering, namely:

Patty Bee



Molly Ann



Princess Anne



Bow Bells & Baden Baden (pics to follow)

Plus an unnamed pink variety ...



Plenty more to come from my ever more extensive collection, but I would love to see pics of your Rhododendrons

 

What lovely specimens and in great condition.
More please Merle,
Jenny

 

My Rhododendron has failed to flower for the second year in a row.
It is supposed to be a very dark red.
It's heading towards the compost heap.......

 

I shall keep updating until the last one finishes in June

 

My all time favourite shrubs. The couple of species ones I have (Falconeri and Bureavii) have benefitted from everything being so late as often their flowers get frosted. Bureavii has wonderful new growth of a rich chestnuty orange colour so if the flowers get spoilt there is still the new growth to enjoy. Added a photo of Pink Walloper. I call it Katy Price...rediculously pink, huge and blingey. Photo is last years as it doesn't flower till later.Like Merleworld loads still to flower, just wish I had the climate to be able to grow all I'd like. However can still grow plenty lovely ones which can withstand our less than ideal climate.

 

My favourite shrub too Silu

I'm very jealous of your Falconeri. I bought a Praestans and a Rothschildii year before last but still too young to flower. Will be worth waiting for I'm sure.

Another couple of dwarf Rhodos ...

Bow Bells ...



Baden Baden (such a beautiful deep red colour) ...



I really just bought the dwarf Rhodos as low maintenance space fillers for the front garden but a few of them are winning my heart.

My Firelight is just coming into bloom so pics will follow when she does. All the large hybrid Rhodos have been moved into larger pots this year and in doing so I've root pruned them all, so expect them to sulk and not produce as many blooms. Having said that, the blooms they did form aren't as large or numerous as the previous year, maybe due to the copious amounts of rain?

I've bought some deciduous Azaleas for the first time this year as well, so look forward to seeing what they look like.

 

Yours are certainly looking very healthy Merlewold and I have Baden Baden too...yours is looking healthier than mine ...boo!
Not an expert on Rhododendrons and Azaleas but have been growing them for many many years and would doubt that too much rain would be a negative. Personally up here in Scotland I grow most of mine in full sun and find they do flower pretty well., especially the Azaleas like some sunshine, I think it more likely that yours didn't do quite so well last year due to lack of that big yellow thing which didn't appear much last year!
My late uncle who had some cracking species Rhododendrons (lived in Dublin so quite a good climate for them) thought I was bonkers buying a Falconeri as he said and I quote "you'll be dead before that flowers!" WELL he was nearly right as I've had it for about 18 years and it only started flowering 2 years ago. It and the other species Rhododendron I have have had to be uprooted twice due to house moves so that won't have helped! They are now staying put and will not be moving again.
Lucky because we have an expert on Rhododendrons and Azaleas who runs his family's garden centre quite close to where I live (Peter Cox, Glendoick). All my Rhodies and Azaleas have come from there (not cheap but very good quality). Photo of my favourite Azalea and can't for the life of me remember it's name but could be Persil altho I think that has a yellow flare and this 1 is slightly more orange. Never fails to groan with flowers...hope you like the stray Pheasant Eye Daffodils which aren't meant to be growing in amongst it...my garden being huge isn't exactly all neat and tidy by any means. Most Azaleas also have the added bonus of going a fabulous colour in Autumn, so look great twice a year. I am in the process of clearing a VERY neglected bed and starting again from scratch so have a feeling a trip to Glendoick and bank balance is in for a hammering! I think I will be buying some more Azaleas as they do tend to flower better when young and I don't have too many years left to wait for species Rhododendrons to do their stuff! Do you have a favourite Azalea or Rhododendron?

 

I think my favourite has to be Firelight

That Azalea is lovely.

 

Red Azalea ...



a

Rhododendron Firelight ...

 

A couple of new ones:

Horizon Monarch (which has HUGE flowers the size of my palm)...



Percy Wiseman ...

 

Horizon Monarch looks very similar to this one I photographed at the weekend whilst visiting a garden open day. Sorry, don't know the name.

 

Fab photo Sheal

Rhodies are nothing if not photogenic.

Wonder if anybody else has noticed that their Rhodies are not as floriferous this year? Last year they had loads of fabulous blooms but this year far less. Wonder if it's to do with the huge amount of rain we had last summer when the buds were developing (Rhodies need plenty of light when they are budding).

 

As far as photogenic is concerned, rhododendrons give their best when looked at from a distance, maybe different plants in two similar shades scattered in a well mowed slightly hilly garden...fantastic!

 

Merleworld, you are right, they are very photogenic. The pictures below I took at the same gardens, they seem to be doing okay here but are late coming into bloom.

 

That garden is fab

Another couple of new additions ...

Purple Passion



Rabatz