Modern rhododendron varieties have more to offer than just beautiful flowers.They attract attention more and more often with their attractively colored leaves.It is worth looking at the varieties of 'Golfer' or 'Silbervelours' with a characteristic silver-gray cutter on the leaves, or 'Queen Bee' and 'Rusty Dane' with beige or cream-colored leaves. Most new Yakushiman hybrids set more flowers than traditional varieties.
This group of rhododendrons has a characteristic, compact, spherical shape, is distinguished by a large selection of colors, and also shows a high adaptability to new conditions, in particular to low temperatures. Yakushiman hybrids are lower than large-flowered forms, they withstand strong winds and sunlight better.Some, such as the white-pink 'Koichiro Wada', the red-pink 'Fantastica', and the golden-yellow 'Goldprinz', have already managed to find admirers and establish their position in the nursery market. They are especially recommended for small gardens or containers for balconies and terraces.
When deciding to grow rhododendrons, remember that these plants like moist air and moderate watering. In our conditions, it is worth planting them in sheltered and shaded positions. On dry soils, the Inkarho varieties thrive and develop better.They are known to grow successfully as shrubs grafted on a lime-tolerant rootstock also in a medium with a slightly higher pH.
Some of these rhododendrons smell. Greater aromatic sensations should be expected from azaleas of the Rhododendron viscosum species: pink-yellow 'Juniduft' and white 'Sommerduft'.They both drop leaves for the winter, just like the Pontic Azalea, well known to all lovers of heather.Azaleas with seasonal leaves are less demanding than rhododendrons and do not freeze as often.
After flowering, tear off the blown inflorescences and water the bushes abundantly before winter. This is especially true of evergreen rhododendrons. After the first frosts, it is good to cover the young bushes with, for example, weed or agrotextile.Remember that rhododendrons and azaleas have a shallow root system.
Wojsławice for the weekend
A place that every rhododendron enthusiast should visit is the Arboretum in Wojsławice. The local collection of rhododendrons and azaleas currently includes over 1,200 species and varieties and is one of the oldest and largest in Poland.It is these over a hundred-year-old specimens that give Wojsławice a specific character.
Thanks to the enlargement of the Arboretum area by 57 ha in 2005.the harvest is intensively enriched - about 200 new plants are planted here every year. In 2011, the collection of large-flowered Seidel rhododendrons in Wojsławice, as a collection unique in Poland, obtained the status of the National Rhododendron Collection.
You can see its greatness on May 22 (Sunday), during the 5th edition of the GDPR.The event includes: presentation of the aforementioned National Collection.
