Beautiful Plants For Your Interior
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What is with yak x Jean Marie?
Did you ever notice that there are three yak Jean Marie hybrids, all done by different hybridizers using three different yakushimanums that are polyploids, probably triploids? Hank Shannon’s ‘Solidarity’, Phil Waldman’s ‘Anita Gehnrich’ and Ray Kruise’s unregistered hybrid that I named and regstered ‘Al Muller’. All these hybrids are very similar: vigorous growers, hardy with rather large pink flowers. It is not easy to tell them apart. Now I do not know how many seedlings of each cross were grown but I can’t imagine it was an enormous number. And each hybridizer got a triploid from his batch of seedlings! …
Rhododendron ‘Harold Amateis’
When I first saw the flower on ‘Harold Amateis’ and was told of its background I couldn’t believe it. How could that strong a red come from maximum in the first generation. Maximum had a terrible reputation here on Long Island as a parent. Clem Bowers made many, many crosses using it in the 1930’s & 40’s and didn’t get anything of value. (Of course he wasn’t using strig, mainly only the ironclades and some of the English giants). Paul Vossburg wouldn’t have anything to do with a maximum hybrid. I was always leery of the cross and wondered if…
Planting a containerized rhododendron
Since most rhododendrons are sold as containerized plants, it is imperative that the purchaser knows how to plant it in his/her garden. Hank Shannon and Ron Rabideau from Rare Find Nurseries produced a wonderful video showing how to do it. EVERYONE SHOULD SEE THIS VIDEO.
2014 Crosses And Resulting Seedlings
2014 Rhododendron Crosses 1/1/15 Cross Nbr Background Seed? Nbr 14-01 (Peter Faulk x Red Crown) x strigillosum yes 54 14-02 (Peter Faulk x Red Crown) x Taurus no 14-03 (Peter Faulk x Red Crown) x Red River x Maxine Margaret no 14-04 Jean Marie x strigillosum no 14-05 (Annanouri x Howard Kuhn) x strigillosum yes 4 14-06 TT78 x strigillosum no 14-07 (Red River x Maxine Margaret) x strigillosum yes 110 14-08 TT220 x strigillosum yes 25 14-09 TT202 x strigillosum yes 45 14-10 Dick’s Big Red x strigillosum no 14-11 TT137 x strigillosum yes 6 14-12 Hardy…
Rooting Rhododendron and Deciduous Azalea Cuttings
Requirements: Moisture – The cuttings cannot be allowed to dry out. Capable cuttings – Cuttings should be taken in September or October and from the lower branches on the shady side of the plant. Avoid thick, fat stems, rather chose thin stems. Allow roots to emerge – Root initials are found in the cambium layer, a thin layer of cells directly under the bark and on top of the hard wood inner stem. Remove a 3/4 inch sliver of bark at opposite sides of the base of the cutting to expose the cambium layer. This is called a wound. Hormone…
Pinching Seedling Rhododendrons
I do not pinch SEEDLINGS as I want to see how the plant develops naturally on its own. The plant growth characteristics are just as important as the flower and hardiness. Almost all casual home gardeners are not going to pinch a rhododendron to try to make it into a dense, bushy plant. To take a seedling and pinch it to make it into something it wasn’t meant to be is fooling the hybridizer and anyone who propagates the plant. This brings to mind “feau plants”. I can remember giving a talk to a chapter and before my talk…
Especially Noteworthy Plants
These are pictures of my “Especially Noteworthy Plants” These are the best of all my numbered plants. It changes from year to year. See under numbeed seedlings for other hybrids and comments of each. TT97 = Mars x Jean Marie
Pictures 2013
These are pictures from 2013 in no specific order. ‘***’ indicates especially noteworthy plant. TT170= TT97 x West coast red TT97= Mars x Jean Marie TT185 = TT97 x West Coast Red. Perfect red color, orange tint. Low growing. One of the best reds. Color is much better than picture indicates. TT193 = Appricot Fantasy x Martha Phipps. Very impressive flower. Yellow with red flair. Leggy. Bloomed 5/15 TT194 = Cross 90-25. ‘Scintillation’ x ‘Martha Phipps’. White with red flare! The flair came from ‘Scintillation’, but where did the white color come from? TT195 = (‘Scintillation’ x…
Pictures 2014
These are pictures that I took during the 2014 season in no special order. As you can see, my photographic skills are lacking. (‘***’ means especially noteworthy plant) TT118 = (Dumper Yellow x Phipps 32) x Pacific Gold x Apricot Fantasy x Bud’s Yellow x max roseum x Bob Bovee x yak x lacteum Unnumbered Pollen from George Woodard
2012 Rhododendron Crosses
Click here to download file: 2012-Rhodo-Crosses-With-Qty. (11/10/12) I know it is a little presumptuous of me to list my 2012 crosses as I have just finished cleaning the seed and have not even planted them yet but it does give you a little idea of my thinking. I made 68 crosses and only 22 produced seed. Some seed lots have only 1 or 2 seeds, others have hundreds. Yellow crosses usually produce large quantities of seed whereas red crosses are very sparse seed producers. I am sure that I will be able to send some seed to the exchange.…