Species or Hybrids, Which is Best?

By Kath Collier

    The other day a friend was excitedly sharing the list of rhodies and azaleas that she had added to her yard. I surprised myself by actually recognizing some of them and commenting about which were species and hybrids. She asked me what was so great about species and I realized that I had become a plant snob. It just kind of ‘snuck’ up on me and took me by surprise. Not that I have only species in my collection. I suspect that the propagator in me came out thinking about all of the cuttings I would be able to take in her yard next year.

    But you know, from a general gardener perspective I couldn't tell her why one might be better than the other... curiosity took over and I started searching for the "whys and wherefores" between species and hybrid purchases for the everyday gardener... For some people it's like buying pedigreed pets versus mutts. For others it reflects what Mother Nature gave us (species), what she collaborated on (subspecies), and the results of collaborative efforts with man (hybrids). Again I couldn't profess one over the other... so out came the books.

    There's not much out there... Roger Swain in "Groundwork, a Gardener's Ecology" discusses the advantages of hybrids in agriculture with their vigor, uniformity, and the fact that the seed companies sell growers new seed every year without fail. Roger recommends avoiding collecting seed from hybrids. He describes hybrids, whether accidental or intentional, as gene soup in the sense that every plant may not contain all of the genes of the previous generation. From a propagator's standpoint this is important... from a gardener's, probably not.

    Greer's Guidebook to Available Rhododendrons, species and hybrids, third edition talked briefly about species and hybrids. Greer describes the differences between species, subspecies, forma (peculiar individuals that may not breed true and may be sterile), cultivars, varieties, clones, and cultivariants. Not a peep about might be 'better' than the others...so the search continues...

    The All-New Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, The Indispensable Resource for Every Gardener for once didn't live up to its name... there were the typical definitions and information about how the names came to be. For the propagator, having a systematic way of naming and classifying plants has a lot of value. To the average gardener, again, this may not be an issue...

    Finally, Peter and Kenneth Cox's book Encyclopedia of Rhododendron Hybrids addressed a few pros and cons. Hybrids may have one or more attributes not available in species. Some 'species slobs' they reported believe that hybrids do not have interesting foliage. Not true, they explain. Both hybrids and species have their merits and place in the garden. They point out that the number of new hybrids increase every year and with that so does the variety and options for the gardener. These new introductions are, of course, based on other hybrids and species... looks like we can't have one without the other.

    There is one, not so obvious, difference. How they are named. Species often incorporate Latin sounding endings, or may be difficult to pronounce. Hybrid's on the other hand, seem to be having all of the fun. Where else could you find plants with the names of: 'Star Trek', 'Dazzler', 'Great Scott', 'Gosh Darn', 'Little Miss Muffett', 'Oh-Too', 'Tequilla Sunrise', 'Twinkles', etc. For the average gardener, talking about their new plant called 'Cherry Float' may be infinitely more fun than trying to pronounce yakushimanum just once.

Controlling Petal Blight

Dave Lewis

    Petal blight is an annual problem in many of our gardens. Elepidotes, lepidotes and azaleas are all susceptible - so is mountain laurel. The early bloomers escape infection (a good reason to include lepidotes in your garden) because petal blight is a warm weather disease and normally does not become severe until May. It's those muggy, misty rainy days that allow the petal blight fungus to go berserk and rot all those flowers that you waited a whole year to see.

    So what can you do about this disgusting scourge of our beloved rhodies? You can spray! if you do it right you will have difficulty in finding blight in your garden. if you don't do it right, you are wasting your time and a lot of money. Any of the fungicides labeled for petal blight control will do the job. The trick is in the proper timing and the proper application.

    Timing is critical. If you wait until you see petal blight, you are too late for a good job of control. Your garden will be loaded with blight spores and complete control will be very difficult. Your first spray should be applied before blight is seen. I put my first spray on when the early evergreen azaleas ('Hino-crimson', 'Delaware Valley White', etc.) are showing color - usually in the first week of May in our location. I then spray once a week for 4 weeks unless it is especially rainy when I close up the spray schedule to every 5 days. We have a number of satsuki azaleas and late blooming elepidotes so I usually Put on an additional spray in early June.

    When you spray, you must get the fungicide on the flowers and buds that are showing color Spraying leaves won't hurt but will have no effect in controlling a fungus that only attacks the flowers. Any kind of sprayer will work if you cover the flowers. Good equipment will do the right job using the least amount of fungicide, water, time and effort. You can also do the job with a stepladder and a Windex spray bottle, but I don't recommend it.

    I use a powered sprayer with a high-pressure pump. It has a 22-gallon spray tank, 50 feet of spray hose and a single nozzle spray gun. The spray pressure is set at 150 psi (I would go higher but that can damage the flowers). Low-pressure sprayers are less efficient (spray droplet size is too large resulting in a need for much higher amounts of spray solution to get adequate coverage) and hose end sprayers are a last resort. My sprayer is on wheels and I tow it around our steeply sloped garden with my lawn tractor. Using my sprayer, I can spray our entire garden of approximately 1200 rhodies and azaleas (they don't all bloom in the same week), rinse out the sprayer (be sure you rinse well if you want the machine to last) and put it away in about 3 hours. Depending on how much is in bloom, I put out anywhere from 50 to 125 gallons per application.

    We have had petal blight in our garden for many years, but by using my sprayer in the manner described above I have been able to control petal blight well enough that most of you would not he able to find the occasional infected flower that does occur. You have to wait 51 weeks for those flowers. Don't let them rot on the 52nd!

Deadheading

By Bill Stipe

THE GARDEN VISIT

By Norman Todd

    Beverley Nichols advised that when faced with a garden visit and when that inevitable time barrier hits you head-on, trim the edges of the lawn and leave the grass uncut.  I don't have any lawn so his advice doesn't help me at all.

    I have never - not once - been able to get our place in shape for visitors.   I always tell myself that people like coming here because they go home feeling their own garden is Eden compared to ours. As a consequence of the perpetual unmaintained look I try to sound superior about it and call it a 'natural West Coast garden.'  It doesn't really fool anyone but it eases my own sensibilities a little.

    I am sure you know this line well, but despite its triteness, I find it still works quite effectively.  Actually there are two lines - 'You should have been here last week', and 'In two weeks time this will be a blaze of colour'  and always have a few horror stories ready.  Visitors then think how lucky they are, and they then don't ask so many embarrassing questions.

    I usually start by informing them that I carry extra insurance because the place is so dangerous. Then I point out Rhododendron aureum which Dr.Koelpin   used to try to cure arthritis, which it did a bit, but killed his patients in the process.  I also point out the poisonous berries on the Daphne laureola and the remains of our Heritage Tree - a native dogwood which needed some dead limbs removed.   The butchers who came to do the job misunderstood the arborists' instructions.   They thought they were to 'remove the dogwood' when the order was 'remove dead wood.'  That gets some sympathy as I lead them past a particularly noxious patch of brambles.

    I find it helps to just keep talking - don't give opportunities for questions or comments.  Nothing will spoil your day more that when some insouciant visitor tells of his specimen of such-and-such that is twice as big as yours and blooms the whole year.  The late Maggie Whitney had a tactic that was pretty drastic but worked well.  When someone would say, 'It must be beautiful when everything is in bloom.'  She would reply, 'If you don't think it's beautiful now you are not a gardener so  'OUT,' and she would point the way.

    But don't use that method right after the 'You should have been here last week' line.  It helps a bit if you have some juice or pop or coffee available and some chairs.  A lot of visitors will just stay near the refreshments and forget all about going round the garden.  Normally I serve the coffee from the greenhouse but last year I had one group - all nice blue-rinse ladies - who came when I wasn't ready for them. My wife was out of town so it wasn't just the garden that was needing maintenance - regardless I just gave them the run of the house.  They found the ugliest spoons and mugs for the coffee and used paper towels instead of napkins.   They were in every drawer and cupboard looking for utensils.  While I was called away for some other commitment, they fended for themselves just fine.

     One thing I have observed is that a surprising number of visitors arrive with full bladders.  The coffee station has some consequences to it too, which should be borne in mind.  So this year we are going to build a toilet that is accessible without going through the whole house.  I say ours is a private garden and by that I mean that some of us can remedy the bladder problem en plaine air.   But that is not satisfactory for all guests, so one has to be prepared to offer other arrangements.

    If you really want to put on the dog, think about charging admission. This will bring you a lot of respect I have noticed. People will talk in hushed tones when going around. You can say the admission is for a charity if you want the voices to be even more hushed. However, paying people will stay longer to get their moneys' worth and more will come with bigger pockets to take home samples. This spring I took pride in four little plants of  R. recurvoides . After one noisy visitation, I had three and after the next there were two. A lot of garden visitors know their ‘onions.’

    Some garden owners ask visitors to sign the guest book.  We don't have one.   We are waiting to get an autograph that is really worth something before investing in a fancy album.  But it has the advantage of giving you a record of who might have made off with the prize R. proteoides.

    I think it is important to wear grubby clothes when taking people round the garden.  It shows you are a worker and closer to Lady Chatterly than most of the observers.  I always look at peoples' hands.  If they are not as dirt engrained as mine, I write them off as being theoretical gardeners only.

    From experience, I now know that it will be impossible to get the place in shape for the Royal Visit so I don't worry about it anymore. You will no doubt be asked to show off your garden this year as members of our club just love coming to criticize all your hard work  Remember that you can be the visitor in many  more gardens than you can be the host so just check that you have something to drink and a convenient toilet and if you have a lawn do the edges first.