Tag Archives: Rhododendrons

Random Gardening Tips

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Sweet Williams

To Attract Butterflies:  Plant these in your garden – Asters, Buddleja, Sweet William, Mexican Sunflower ((Tithonia rotundifolia), Milkweed, & Pipevine.

 

Tomato Tip: Help tomatoes pollinate by flicking each bloom with a fingernail during the driest part of the day, two or three times per week.  Shake big plants to spread their sticky pollen.

SALVIA guaranitica

Deer Problems: Are critters causing trouble in your garden?  Try deer-and rabbit-resistant perennial flowers including, agastache, artemisia, lavender, monarda, ornamental oregano, Russian sage, salvia, & yarrow.

 

 Iris Care: In the spring when tulips are blooming in your    neighborhood apply a light application of low-nitrogen fertilizers (6-10-10). Apply a second light application about a month after bloom; this will reward you with good growth and bloom. Avoid using anything high in nitrogen. After tall-bearded irises stop blooming, cut off spent flower stalks to promote new rhizome growth.

Rhododendrons: Immediately after bloom, prune rhododendrons to control size and shape.  Cut each stem back to just above a rosette of leaves.  Most varieties of garden-scale rhododendrons aren’t harmed by hard pruning.

Forget-me-not

Annual Flowers: If you like color & can embrace a little chaos, sow reseeding flowers including:  Blue Honeywort, Forget-me-not, Golden Feverfew, Love-in-a-mist, Sunflower & Sweet Alyssum.  These unfussy, drought-tolerant annuals will cheerily pop up for years to come.

Mulch: Maintaining a 3” layer of organic mulch throughout the garden prevents crusting & cracking of the soil surface, holds in moisture, encourages earthworms, moderates ground temperature, & prevents weeds from germinating.

Potted Plants: Feed potted specimens at least monthly with liquid fertilizer; They need it because increased summer watering washes nutrients out before plants can use them.

Garden of the Month: April 2015

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Spring has arrived (though, it feels like it began in January) and gardens all over Ashland are making us take notice. One such garden is found at the home of Beverly and Dick Gergen who moved into their Ashland home August 2003. The Gergens previously lived on six acres above Talent where they created large flower and vegetable gardens. After deciding a home closer to town with a smaller yard made more sense, they moved and set about creating the lovely garden you see.

Originally, the front held a flat, grass covered area struggling with large tree roots, all competing for water and nourishment. This also meant that people walking by looked past the yard and into the large living room windows. Beverly and Dick decided to create something more interesting for the passersby and to enhance their pleasant and friendly neighborhood.

Beginning in 2006 Ian Wessler, a friend, fellow Siskiyou Singers member, and garden designer, was asked to help convert the front into something more beautiful. As you will see, he definitely did! Working with Beverly and her vision, this Asian inspired planting is on its way to being a standout even beyond their immediate neighborhood.

Before planting, a berm of fertile soil, supported by huge granite boulders, was created and became the foundation for the plantings: Japanese maples, rhododendrons, several varieties of daphne (including a lavender color, currently in bloom), weeping hemlock, scarlet oak, fern-leaf false cyprus, dwarf Norway spruce, shore juniper, dogwood, skimmia, viburnum, Japanese snowbelle, enkianthus, helleborus, lamium and others.

Many Asian touches lie within the garden – a slightly tipsy crane greets visitors coming down the path, glass floats live near the water feature, bells hang in the trees, and beautiful pottery and lanterns nest among the shrubs. One clever feature I particularly liked is a “lawn” pathway, much easier to walk on than gravel, and small enough to maintain. Even an old family bear stands back among the trees, keeping watch.
Like so many other gardens in Ashland, this one was planted with deer in mind. Nearly all the plants are considered deer resistant, and except for a few nibbled azaleas, the choices appear to be working.  While the deer can take a lot of fun out of gardening, Beverly says, “the planting, pruning and general garden maintenance are therapeutic. When my garden is happy, I am happy.”

I know I’m happy, just looking at it.
by Kaaren Anderson

Horticultural Report : Rhododendrons and Azaleas

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THE BASICS

Overview:
Rhododendrons are native to Asia, North America, Europe and Australia, with the highest

Rhododendron_'Black_Magic'_(1)

Black Magic Rhododendron

species diversity in the Himalayas. There are over 1,000 species of rhododendron, woody plants in the Heath family that may be evergreen or deciduous. Azaleas make up 2 subgenera of the rhododendron family.

Some species are poisonous, both the pollen and nectar, yet we have observed honey being sold specifically from bees feeding on rhododendrons.

Growing Conditions:
After over 48 years experience growing both rhododendrons and azaleas in diverse conditions in the U.S., I believe these plants are much tougher than most people appreciate.

Among the false assumptions:
Rhododendrons and azaleas are best grown where summers are cool and moist—not so!
Azaleas are mostly deciduous—not so!

There are two conditions that are critical to success in growing these acid loving plants whose fine roots are primarily at the soil surface:

>>Good Drainage
>> Cool Roots

Whether your soil is clay or decomposed granite, it can be amended to meet the plants needs.

Clay Soil:
With clay there are two approaches, the easiest is to amend the existing soil with good acid compost to loosen it up and allow for drainage. As long as the planting site is elevated from the surrounding soil, you can plant directly into the soil. Another approach is to build a raised area about one foot above the existing soil level using river rock or another material and fill with good soil mulched with acid compost.

Decomposed Granite:
Typically decomposed granite drains rapidly so the addition of a good amount of acid compost will help it retain sufficient moisture to support plant growth.

Keeping Roots Cool:  In Southern Oregon it is very easy to keep plant roots cool as we have easy access to conifer forest detritus. Although fir trees are the dominate locally, we have pine trees which serve as the ideal mulch for azaleas and rhododendrons. Unlike compost, which can get soggy and compacted, pine needles piled around the base of the plants provide a cool, moist environment with good air circulation. As the pine needles breakdown, they help maintain soil acidity.

Selecting Plants

2012_Purple_Azaleas

Azalea

A factor to consider in purchasing rhododendrons and azaleas, is how the plant will fit into your landscape scheme. If you desire the tall lacy feel of rhododendrons reaching for the sky, then look for plants that exhibit an 8 to 10 inch or greater annual growth rate. In contrast, there are many species which grow in a dense, bush-like growth habit or , with the deciduous species, they retain a shrub like height, but exhibit a lacy open growth habit.

Spring is the ideal time to purchase these plants as they are in full bloom, giving you good color selection and an appreciation of some of the perfumed varieties. The disadvantage is often nursery suppliers push the plants causing the roots of some of them to be so compacted that they cannot be pulled a part. Under these conditions the plant will never perform well and I would suggest returning the plant to the nursery.

Submitted by:
Donna Rhee

Horticulture Report: May 2013

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Rhododendrons & Azaleas
What’s the difference between Rhododendrons and azaleas?

Azaleas are Rhododendrons. They belong to the subgenus pentanthera (deciduous) and the subgenus Tsustusti (mostly evergreen).
Azaleas are elepidotes, they never have scales.
Azaleas have five lobes to the flower.
Most azaleas have only one stamen for each lobe of the flower, while most other rhododendrons have two stamens for each lobe.
Azaleas tend to have appressed hairs (hairs that grow parallel to the surface of the leaf). This is particularly true along the midrib of the under-surface of the leaf and is easily seen in the so called “evergreen” azaleas.
Azaleas have tubular funnel or funnel shaped flowers. You need a microscope to see this, but the hair on a “standard” rhododendron will often branch, while the hair on azaleas never does.

Basic Needs:
Rhododendrons must have a constant supply of moisture.
They are sensitive to poorly drained conditions.
Hot wet conditions are more dangerous than cool, wet conditions.
They need an acid soil of pH 5-6.
Fertilizer: A 10-6-4 formula is optimal. For the best growth and flowers apply fertilizer after the plant goes dormant between late Nov and Jan, a second application in Feb or March, a third time in April or May, and a final time in June or July.

Pruning:
Always prune right after flowering. Even large plants can be cut back. Rhododendrons & azaleas flower on the prior year’s wood, therefore the buds for next spring’s flowers form during the previous summer or fall. If you prune them later in the summer, fall or winter you will be trimming off your flowers for the spring.
Prune larger leaved rhododendrons just above the growth joints.
Prune azaleas and small leafed rhododendrons anywhere along the stem. These plants have dormant growth buds nearly everywhere, though you may not be able to see them.

Deadheading and Pinching:
Light pruning and shaping should be done yearly when you deadhead. Snap off the old flower trusses. You may pinch out the single terminal growth buds just as they start to grow. It will make a shorter and bushier plant.

For more information:
American Rhododendron Society
http://www.rhododendron.org/

American Azalea Society
http://azaleas.org/

Definitions:
Elepidotes are large leaved rhododendrons. They are the type of shrub that most individuals would associate as being a rhododendron. They do not have scales located on the underside of the leaves. Plants tend to be very large in their maturity.

Lepidote rhododendron have smaller leaves and are usually low growing or dwarfs. They usually bloom earlier in the spring than the larger leaved elepidotes. Tiny scales cover the undersides of the leaves of some rhododendron species.