Re: Vireya rhododendrons (Was following on roses, orchids etc.

david feix wrote:
> 
> Some of the Vriesia bromeliads are hardier than
> Vireyas, but they both are generally best protected
> from frost in winter.  The two plants do combine very
> well for a subtropical garden effect, as the Vriesias
> also bbloom over a very long period of time, and the
> foliage can be quite showy as well.
> 
> > Vireyas are the tropical Rhododendrons...
> 
> I'd agree that the flowering period and vivid colors
> make them especially nice in warmer and more humid
> mediterannean climates, but they don't fit in with the
> drought tolerant crowd, and do quite well here in the
> fog belt areas of coastal California.
> 
> > They have been extensively hybridized
> > and the odd one is
> > obviously quite hardy, as a couple have come through
> > the frosts
> > successfully with their leaves still green and
> > growing.
> 
> Moira, apparently there are quite a few more cold
> hardy hybrids that have been developed recently, my
> friend Chip Lima here in San Francisco grows and
> collects them, and says there are many more to choose
> from compared to just 10 years ago.  I gave up on them
> after I lost all of them in the two hard freezes we
> had in 1990 and again in 1998 here in California....

 I hate to be overly pessimistic, but the
> chances aren't nearly as good for most Vireyas as you
> describe them, none of mine came back from 25F.  I do
> hope that you have better luck!

I am most interested in your mention of more hardy kinds. my eldest son
has offered to buy me some new ones as a bithrday present and I happen
to know of someone who breeds extensively and has a big collection for
sale. I shall ask him to recommend some of his most cold-resistsnt
cultivars I think.

Moira

-- 
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand, SW Pacific. 12 hours ahead of Greenwich Time
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