RE: Rhododendrons

Hello all,

Just had to chime in here, quite unscientifically, and say that here in
Oregon we shorten the name to "rhodies," as opposed to "rhodos" and they are
practically a weed around here!  It's terrible, isn't it, how what we can't
have is always what we want, and what we have, we don't appreciate.  When I
first moved to Oregon 15 years ago I was absolutely stopped dead in my
tracks by rhodies in bloom, since most around here are small tree sized, and
when in bloom, they are a show stopper.

But alas, having lived here long enough now, I see a few bicolors that are
attractive, but I have lost interest in them and even removed all azaleas
and rhodies from my garden except for a fine stand along my driveway which
are probably 20-30 years old and 15' tall.  I limbed them up to look like
more tree-like.  Their branches are very twisted and contorted (very nice)
and the bark peels occasionally to add interest.  The birds enjoy them for
shelter, and the cats think they are quite fun to take a run at (the rhodies
and the birds).

This will probably add insult to injury, but because of my lack of respect
for these poor plants, I have used the row of them as host plants for a
sweet autumn clematis (you didn't really expect me to remember how to spell
the botanical name of this from memory, did you?) -- which skips and
clambers over nearly the entire 25' length of the row.  The clematis is
quite cheery in the gray days of fall with its ropes and waterfalls of
creamy stars.  The combination looks a little ratty in the winter, but
fortunately the clematis greens up by the time the rhodies bloom in April or
May.

And a warning -- if you plant to use any large rhodies as a host plan for
other vines, they are very shallow rooted and getting the vine in can be a
challenge.  Once accomplished, with regular supplemental summer water, they
seem to thrive together.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: LONDE@aol.com [L*@aol.com]
> Sent: Friday, January 07, 2000 11:04 AM
> To: woodyplants@mallorn.com
> Subject: Re: Rhododendrons
> 
> 
> Tracy:  Thank you for your detailed report of soil conditions 
> in Cornwall.  I 
> found it fascinating.  
> 
> St. Louis is built over limestone bedrock, so soils here are 
> alkaline and it 
> is difficult to grow Rhododendrons at all. I live in Webster 
> Groves, an older 
> suburb which is a pocket of slightly more acidic soil created 
> in part by a 
> preponderance of oak trees growing for over 100 years in relatively 
> undisturbed soil.  The unamended pH in my yard is 6.4.  That 
> is just slightly 
> acidic, but with diligent use of acid fertilizer it is enough 
> to grow decent 
> azaleas.  True Rhododendrons do not thrive and are 
> short-lived, but azaleas 
> are quite popular here. People from neighboring communities, 
> where azaleas 
> will not grow at all, drive through our town each spring to enjoy the 
> display.  
> 
> I was quite proud of my own azeleas, some of which are more 
> than 20 years old 
> and nearly 5-feet tall, until a few years ago when I took a 
> spring trip to 
> Winterthur Gardens in Delaware and Longwood Gardens in 
> Pennsylvania and 
> realized just how magnificent they could be in proper soil 
> conditions and 
> reaffirmed by conviction to plant only native shrubs and trees.  
> 
> There is one species native to Missouri, Rhododendron roseum 
> or wild azalea, 
> which grows wild in Southeast Missouri, beginning just a few 
> counties south 
> of St. Louis, where acid soils overlay sandstone or igneous 
> bedrock.  The 
> flowers are very fragrant, showy, pink.  If I ever find it in 
> the trade, I 
> just might bend my rule a bit and see how it does in Webster 
> Groves.  :Janis
> 
> 
> In a message dated 1/7/00 10:25:35 AM Central Standard Time, 
> steve.wilson@ukonline.co.uk writes:
> 
> > Dear Janis,
> >  
> >  pH is certainly the key to Rhodo success and I'm sorry 
> that I took it for
> >  granted. In Cornwall the pH varies, but is mostly neutral to acid, 
> depending
> >  upon where you are and whether the builders have messed it 
> up. Our base 
> rock
> >  is mostly granite which generally gives an acid soil. I 
> wouldn't say that
> >  many places in Cornwall are acid enough to grow 
> Blueberries without adding
> >  additional peat to the soil, for example.
> >  We also have quite a thin soil level in much of Cornwall, 
> as the moorland
> >  areas will testify, and the poorer, thinner soil also 
> tends to be acid. 
> That
> >  combined with the climate makes for good Rhodo country. 
> Often gardens with
> >  neutral soil will grow Rhodos quite happily and Rhodo 
> ponticum will grow
> >  virtually anywhere, generally where you don't want it!
> >  having said that we have poor soil, many of the valleys, 
> where all the good
> >  soil ends up, have almost tropical/rain forest like 
> gardens with tree 
> ferns,
> >  bananas and hedychiums growing happily all year round. 
> Whilst we haven't 
> got
> >  any mountains, we can certainly offer a wide range of 
> growing conditions in
> >  a small county.
> >  
> >  regards,
> >  
> >  Tracy Wilson, Cornwall. UK
> >  
> >  
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE WOODYPLANTS
> 






NOTICE:  This communication may contain privileged or other confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or believe that you may have received this communication in error,  please reply to the sender indicating that fact and delete the copy you received.  In addition, you should not print, copy,  retransmit, disseminate, or otherwise use the information.       Thank you.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@mallorn.com with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE WOODYPLANTS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index