Re: Vireyas cultivars more tolerant of frosts

Moira, 
I can't remember if I already sent this reply to you
on the Vireyas, hope this isn't the second time...

Recently Moira in New Zealand wrote of losing her
Vireya Rhododendrons to a hard freeze, and was asking
if anyone knew of hardier varieties.  I passed this
question on to Chip Lima, a local Vireya expert here
in San Francisco, and he listed the following
varieties as being more cold hardy:
> 
> Lawrence, Saxon Dawn, anything with the name Saxon,
> anything bred from
> commanae or saxifrigoides.  They are all hard to
> find.
> 
I had  also asked him if he had any tips
for increasing the odds of resuscitating apparently
dead Vireyas that have lost all their leaves, is there
anything to be done to increase the odds of some life
returning?

He suggests the following, which makes me realize that
I never give frozen back plants long enough to confirm
they really are dead:
> >
> Just wait and cut back to the ground.  They can
> resprout.  I have heard of
> some growing back as much as 3 years later.

I hope this may be of some use to those interested in
Vireyas.  They certainly are beautiful in their
striking yellow/orange/red/white colors and nearly
year round bloom, but they also demand some rather
specialized growing conditions, and are probably
easier in California's fog belt than in most other
parts of the world.  The fatal weakness of the genus
has always been most species lack of frost hardiness. 
Many hybrids have been lost several times in the last
100 years, mostly to freezes in California, but due to
World Wars in places like England.  The plants can be
grow well indoors, in a cool green house environment
or unheated sunporch.  

I know I've lost all 6 or 7 cultivars I've grown over
the years in several hard freezes.  Covering them or
moving containers indoors would easily have protected
them, but I wasn't attentive enough.  (It helps to
have so many places to get another start of tender
things, and being next door to southern California
helps also).  For those interested in Vireyas, the
annual Strybing Sale in San Francisco always has a
good selection, and Berkeley Hort Nursery also sells
them.  (There is even one hybrid named after the owner
of Berkeley Hort Nursery).

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