Not the terrier!

These are six of the many rhododendrons that have been blooming in the landscape for a while now. Some of the pictures are a week or so old. I do not remember when I took them. The rhododendrons did well this year, and their bloom has been lasting quite nicely. I should be pruning them next week, but can not get started until they finish. Some are very big, and some are sloppily overgrown. As much as I enjoy them in this landscape, I miss working with them on the farm. I can remember delivering the smaller rhododendrons in this landscape several years ago. Some of the bigger specimens are about as old as I am. I think I recognize a few of them, but can only positively identify the one in the first picture. ‘Annah Kruschke’ is the most popular cultivar, not only because it is so reliable, but also because it is not too bothered too much by the arid climate of the Santa Clara Valley and other regions that are somewhat farther inland.

1. Annah Kruschke is not the best purple, but is the easiest to grow. The foliage is is very nice dark green and somewhat glossy. It has a nice stout form that does not get too sloppy. Thrip do not bother it too much.P80519
2. This one looks like Taurus, and is just as popular with thrip, but I can not positively identify it. Branch structure is not only open, but has gotten quite sloppy with age. These will be a challenge to prune back.P80519+
3. I will not even guess what this watermelon red rhododendron is. There are several of them here. Although the branch structure is somewhat open, it is not a sloppy mess.P80519++
4. This one looks more like a cultivar that belongs in the Northwest. It has a nice stout branch structure, and nice round trusses of bright pink bloom. Although happy here, these types are not so happy in chaparral climates.P80519+++
5. This is probably my favorite rhododendron here because it looks so much like one of my favorite whites, “Helen Schiffner’. I could do without the yellow blotches. The foliage and branch structure are somewhat shabby.P80519++++
6. Like #3, I will not even guess what this one is. Although I typically prefer plain white, I happen to like these sorts of flowers because the blackberry stains in each floret makes the white look whiter.P90519+++++
This is the link for Six on Saturday, for anyone else who would like to participate:

https://thepropagatorblog.wordpress.com/2017/09/18/six-on-saturday-a-participant-guide/

23 thoughts on “Six on Saturday: Rhody”

  1. The last is so unusual! … With white, they are my favorite of your Sos (maybe because I already have 2 different pink, a red, a pale yellow and a purple … but no white ?!).. in a wish-list?

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    1. We grew hundreds of cultivars, but only two were pure white, and neither of them were good landscape plants. One was a niely structured plants, but the foliage always looked shabby and sparse, and the floral trusses were rather round. The other had excellent trusses, but could not support the weight of the bloom. The stems sprawled out on the ground, with the floral trusses standing up perpendicular to the horizontal stems. There were other whites, but they had spots, stripes, blotches, blush or any other pattern on top of their white color.

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  2. The last one I like especially. We are in completely the wrong climate here to grow rhododendrons, so I enjoyed seeing your photos. In the mountains, not so far from here, there is a rhododendron festival in November.

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  5. The pictures are all outstanding . I would keep all of them if I could grow them easily on the Coast . In the Blue Ridge mountains they grow wild and are abundant .

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  7. Tony, your rhodies are stunning. I’ll take one of each, please. Oh wait — most aren’t suited for my wet climate. Thankfully, I have some good sources! 😉 So glad your bloom time has been extended.

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    1. #4 would probably be happier there. I am surprised that it is happy as it is here. The others would be just as happier in a wetter climate, and would not like it any more arid than it is here. We just happen to be in the redwood forest here, but the chaparral is just over the mountains.

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    2. I will be featuring elderberry flowers (and mock orange and black locust) for next week, for when I feature six roses the following week and six petunias for the week after that, I will try to predict the favorites. I might feature six impatiens (or at least four) after the petunias.

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    1. Finally, someone agrees that white is best, although that includes the last #6 that most people have voted for. Oh well. While growing them, I found that the most popular were my least favorite.

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