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American Rhododendron Society Annual Convention 2000
Western Regional Rhododendron Conference 2000

EXCHANGE COLUMN
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[Editor: A number of questions about propagation, where to find plants, soils, membership, etc. have been received. Whenever possible answers were sought right away. Most of these were answered by other members of the American Rhododendron Society and do not appear here. This help is greatly appreciated.]

ARS Quarterly Bulletins for Sale:

Date: 07-24-99

I was a member of the N.Y chapter, and I now live in Florida. I have quite a number of ARS Quarterly Bulletins all in good condition. They are from the years 1971 to 1991 and I have about 75 in all. I hope that some members will email me. Would any one consider buying them for a very small amount? Thank you.

Contact: Lawrence A. Grimando
Email: mrgee@bellsouth.net

Wanted Items 

Yellow Wonder Azalea

Date: 9/7/99

We had three 'Yellow Wonder" Azaleas in our yard, now there are just two beautiful dwarf shrubs. Cannot locate a replacement for the lost one. We would be happy to purchase two, one for the back yard.

Thanks very much and keep up the good work

Joan and Rick Collins
Camas, Washington
Email: richarpc@aol.com

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Source Seed.

Date: 9/28/99

I am especially keen to source seed. Please would you keep me informed regarding the Rhododendron and Azalea News? Many thanks.

R.F.HESKETH.

Email: r.hesketh@rfh.demon.co.uk (Robert Hesketh)

Hardy Variety

Date: 10/7/99

I was wondering if you could give myself some help. I grew up in Oregon and my father had a rhododendron garden that was spectacular. I now live in Alaska and want to start a garden of my own. I live in Anchorage, which is considered Zone 3. The winters here sometimes get down to -20° F. Is there a resource that I can find rhodies that can survive our harsh climate or any suggestions on how to care for them? Thanks for your help in advance.

Andy

Email: aeaj@gci.net

Rhododendron 'Edna McCarty'

Date: 10/11/99

I have been searching for some time for a Rhododendron named 'Edna McCarty.' The hybridizer is Andre Ostbo. The name is active in the Greer's book. Can anyone help me find this? Thank you.

Patti Revoyr

Email: prevoyr@yahoo.com  or
Patricia.Revoyr@eddiebauer.com (Patricia Revoyr)

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Book Wanted: "Azaleas" by Fredrick Street

Date: 11/21/99

Dear Betty:

The Western North American Rhododendron Species Project is looking for a book: "Azaleas" by Fredrick Street.  The library at the Rhododendron Species Foundation (RSF) has his book on rhododendrons, but not this volume. If you know any one who has it to contribute, they could just mail it to the RSF with a note that it is for the WNARSP project. Or maybe this could be posted in the "Wanted" bulletin board of your Website.

Thanks!

Clarice Clark
Email:   jbroadus@seanet.com (Clarice Clark)

Information Needed about Cecil Smith Hybrids:

From "News From the Cecil & Molly Smith Garden"

The Cecil and Molly Smith Garden Committee would like to obtain information from anyone who is growing Cecil Smith hybrids. Some rhododendron enthusiasts from the Longview, Washington area have been growing some of his hybrids for many years and are sharing their experiences and successes with the Garden Committee. The committee plans to use these to make a special memorial to Cecil and his work but they want more input. The Smith Garden committee is seeking information about Cecil's hybrids, photos, correspondence, anecdotes and any other materials etc. regarding Cecil Smith. They are especially interested in hearing from people who had purchased his ARS seed. They encourage those who have grown plants from Cecil's hybrid seed to write to the committee. Through the years Cecil Smith contributed much seed and pollen to ARS members through the ARS Seed Exchange. Some of those plants must still be growing throughout the rhododendron world. If you have plants grown from any of his seed, please let the committee know where they are. Also, if anyone has saved correspondence from Cecil or photos, they would appreciate your sharing that with the Smith Garden archives, even if it's only a copy. You might like to write about an anecdote or experience with the Smiths. Time goes on and these things can be forgotten. All of these will be compiled for a memorial to Cecil. Please help to make it a very special memorial. Send anything you might have to:

Fran and Ed Egan
14635 SW Bull Mt. Road
igard, OR 97224

If you prefer, you can write to the Smith Garden Committee by email through bettyspady@aol.com.

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Ted and Mary Greig Information Needed for Biography:

Judy Walker, a landscape architect and one of the founding members of the North Island Rhododendron Society, is collecting information, photos and anecdotes about the Greigs, their plants and gardens, people to contact, books and journals. Her goal is to honour the Greigs lives by writing a biography. Ms. Walker had been Mary Greig's friend and gardener for the last eight years of her life. She remembers delightful hours on the porch facing the sea with their dogs at their feet, while they talked of life in general and plants in particular. The Greigs were connected to many people on the West Coast. Countless valuable rhododendron species were introduced in the United States through their perseverance, energy and knowledge. If you have any information to share, contact Ms. Judy Walker. EMAIL: jrwalker@mars.ark.com (Judith Walker)

Information seen in the North Island Rhododendron Society Newsletter, November 1999, Mary Palmer, Editor.

Wants Uncommon Evergreen Azaleas

Ostrom Garden & Propagating R. rex

Information about Tissue Culture & Ways to Introduce Rhododendrons

Date: 10/17/99

I am Don Robitaille, President of the Fort Malden Horticultural Society, in Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada. We have a very dedicated Rhododendron Committee that is a branch of our Society. We are always looking for information and ways to introduce Rhodos to our community. The Rhododendron is our community flower. Of a personal note, would anyone have any information on tissue culture or know about someone who does this kind of propagation? We want to develop a rhododendron that we can name and have it exclusively for our area. We are located on the Detroit River across from the state of Michigan and south of the City of Detroit. We have developed several Rhododendron/Azalea beds in our community. Mr. Bob Sutherland introduced these plants to our Society in 1985. He has been the driving force behind the garden developments and the plant sales. Thank you. Any info would be appreciated.

Don Robitaille

Email: donkat@netcom.ca

Care of Rhododendrons in Michigan

[The following message was sent to the Ann Arbor Chapter President and another member to help Darleene. I hope she has received information from them.]

Date: 11/6/99

Hi,

I would like some help on the care of the rhododendron. I live in Michigan and do not know how to prepare this plant for the winter.

Thank You, Darleene

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The following items are from previous columns:

Information Wanted about R. 'Popacatapetl'

Date: 08/15/99

I am growing several hybrid grexes involving a 1981 Reuthe hybrid called 'Popacatapetl'. They are [aureum x (repens x 'Popacatapetl')] and ['Elvira x (repens x 'Popacatapetl')]. Cox in the Encyclopedia of Rhododendron Hybrids lists the parentage of 'Popacatapetl' as ('Elizabeth' x 'Compactum Multiflorum'). 'Compactum Multiflorum' is a hybrid described in Leach's Rhododendrons of the World merely as white flushed pink. Since 'Popacatapetl' is described by Cox as turkey red it would seem unusual that a white flushed pink pollen parent would produce such a good red. Could it be that this is a hybrid of  'Compactum', which immediately precedes the 'Compactum Multiflorum' description in the Leach book and is described as "cultivated by Standish & Noble before 1860, scarlet"? Any help would be appreciated.

Rhododendron (repens x 'Popacatapetl') is a hybrid by Barry Starling in Devon, England and is famous for his selection of R. keiskei 'Yaku Fairy' which has given us so many great new lepidote hybrids.

John Weagle
Z6
1421 Edward Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canada B3H 3H5
Email: InsigneGdn@aol.com

Information about Name of "yak #7" Obtained from Briggs Nursery

Date: 4/2/99

A plant was distributed by Briggs Nursery in one-gallon size labeled yak#7. Mistakenly our chapter ordered some of these, thinking #7 was a selection of R. yakushimanum. Briggs later said it was a "yak" hybrid, produced by a local hybridizer. Several learned members decreed one parent probably was from the Neriiflora. The bloom was a lovely salmon pink, very large calyx and very long lasting. The plants have only done well in the very mildest areas of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. In other areas it bud blasts and wind burns. Because of the colour we have crossed it with 'Elvira' to try to get some hardiness into it. The seedlings look interesting.

Can anyone shed some light on this plant, the hybridizer and parentage? Thanks.

John Weagle
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canada
Email: <InsigneGdn@aol.com>

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Late October Rhododendron Bloom on Lake Waban, Massachusetts

Date: 10/24/99

I was walking around Lake Waban in Wellesley, Massachusetts today (October 24, 1999). On the Eastern Shore, I found a blooming rhododendron. The flowers were white and there were only two of them. I did not have my camera but took a cutting in the hope that I might be able to root it. Can you possibly suggest what type of Rhododendron this could be that would bloom at the end of October in Zone 5? I am a member of the Tappan Zee Chapter of ARS.

Roger Pellegrini
Tulipwood Farms
Sparkill, NY
Email: palemoon@bestweb.net (Pellegrini)

Dick Brooks (former ARS President) who lives near the area responded: "I think he must have seen 'Cunningham's White'. There's a fair amount of fall bloom here this year."

Rhododendron 'John Blair' (Rh. Arborescens x Rh. occidentale hybrid)

Date: 11/4/99

I want to know if there are any sources or living specimens left of Fraser's Rh. 'John Blair' (arborescens - occidentale hybrid). I would like to get in touch with Bill Dale.

Mike Creel

Email: creelm@scdnr.state.sc.us (Mike Creel)

[The Internet works fast. See next item. Editor]

Date: 11/10/99

I got a call direct from Bill Dale last night. He is a great fellow; we talk the same plant language. Bill specializes in the plants grown by John Fraser, who was gardens director of Chicago before the Civil War.

Apparently Bill has a plant - the one and only - of the registered Rhododendron 'John Blair' (Rh. arborescens x Rh. occidentale), and thus far it has proven impossible to propagate by local experts using spring softwood cuttings. The cuttings rooted, but would not put on new growth. Bill is mailing me his article on the plant from the RH magazine. I am wondering just how many registered Rhododendron cultivars are single plants that have not been multiplied. I think that these "unmultiplied" cultivars should be given a distinctive designation that stays with them until their numbers expand.

I am sending by mail some of my tips for propagation of hardwood cuttings to Bill Dale, and I may ask him to mail me some dormant cuttings. I recently rooted dormant cuttings of Rh. eastmanii taken January 1999 outside.

I am thinking that the new Rh. eastmanii may prove a bridge via hybridization to Rh. occidentale, perhaps enabling us in the East to grow plants with occidentale lineage.

Mike Creel

[Editor: Mike is sending information about his method of propagation. I hope to use this in a future issue of Rhododendron and Azalea News.]

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Comments, suggestions and contribution may be emailed to: bettyspady@AOL.com

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