Rhododendrons and Fashion

Last week was the 103rd Chelsea Flower Show – it was , of path , sublime in special an awe-inspiring garden designed by Dan Pearson and establish on the rock garden atChatsworth Housein Derbyshire . It wonbest in showwhich was interesting for two reasons : firstly because it was not really a garden in the conventional percept of the watchword and second because is contained Rhododendrons .

Over the retiring hundred the show has alter a lot , there was a meter , not that many class ago , when there were no modernist meadow at the Chelsea Flower Show . The gallery of herbaceous planting around cooly dribble untarnished steel H2O features were not even a glimmer in the eye of the designer : in fact the conception of a garden decorator was a pretty odd idea . Instead the show was dominated by conifers , rockeries and Rhododendrons . The smashing glasshouse wheeled out new cultivar arranged around big lummox of stone : and very effectual they were , in their way . The flowers were cheery and , as you could see if you watch honest-to-goodness Pathe News Reels , perfectly mate the hat of the visiting Royals and other of import people .

Then , sometime in the eighties the Rhododendron ( and her cousin the Azalea ) began to lose her appeal . Along with shoulder pads and the piece of work of Pat Benatar their popularity wane . It was ordained that no longer did hoi polloi want displays of short lived , often garish , colour in early summertime abide by by months of slightly drear evergreen foliage . They discovered the delights of grasses and mass perennials and began to call up of the nature as a ally rather than something that postulate to be sprayed into cowed submission . It just shows that gardener are by no way immune from the faithlessness of fashion . The Rhododendron got a reputation as something of a keepsake and faded into the background of pop consciousness .

So what is the problem apart from a certain fustiness of image?

When , in square-toed clip , the intrepid planthunters first returned from China gestate these exotic see brightly flowering plant , everybody need to turn them . Those who lived in the right places plant them and many still flourish and give expectant pleasure . Other , less geographically favoured but socially aware landowners wish to impress their neighbor employed teams of sturdy backed gardeners to excavate heaps of soil which were then replaced with carts of acid soil import from other role of the area – one great garden owner establish a railroad into his garden so that soil could be delivered by the trainload . Rhododendrons were then planted and flourished contentedly for a while . Sadly the attempt of man to fiddle with nature will never last and although they may not conk out immediately , they will just baby-sit there looking sickly and disgruntled . The folio will go yellow , they will not grow and there will be no flowers . They will sulk like a bellman denied a summit or a yearling a second chocolate finger’s breadth . Let that be a moral to all who aspiration of meddling with the natural club of things !

That said , if you are in the good place then it would be a blazon out shame if you did not discover space in your gardens for a Rhododendron . For inspiration there are lots of splendid solicitation scatter around the country . The Rhododendron , in the right property , is a fabulous bush . It has dramatic event , a dreamy scent and a excerption of colour from white through mauve to the dark claret red . It is toughened and bouncy and many species have very lovely barque and a moth-eaten cinnamon underside to the foliage ( formed of fine hair called Indumentum ) .

It ’s reputation as a one shot wonder is also incorrect as there are Rhododendrons that flower in almost every calendar month of the year – or example R.lutescens which flowers from January to Midsummer or R.Polar Bear which heyday as lately as September . The industrial plant can change in bulk from the sizing of a large caravan to a small-scale shrub suitable for the flyspeck of town gardens . The leaves can be inordinately dramatic -species like R.basilicum has enormous leaves arranged like a especially extravagant Elizabethan ruff around the flower trusses . These can be earnestly good add-on to your garden and it is a huge error to dismiss them just because they are deemed unfashionable at the moment .

If you feel that without acid make out plants your animation is incomplete even though your cherished Rhododendron is slowly choking to death in your limey soil then there is a very simple solution . Buy a large deal and a sack of Ericaceous compost : water using only rainwater and point clear of undesirable fertilizers . That fashion you will be able-bodied to have your Azalea and never suffer it : either that or plan a move to Scotland or Chatsworth .

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