First Place Photo, Photography Competition, Western Regional Conference
People's Choice Photography Competition

Rhododendron sinogrande Photo by William R. Heller

This photograph of Rhododendron sinogrande was taken at Mount Congreve's garden in Ireland by William R. Heller during the 2002 Heller/Smith Rhododendron Garden Tour of Ireland. To give you some scale of size, the leaves on this plant are over 24 inches long. This shot was taken with a Sony Digital Mavica MVCCD-300 camera at a resolution of 3 megapixel. To give you some idea of the size of this magnificent rhododendron, the trunks you see around the truss are the four trunks of this large sinogrande .

Mount Congreve is a plantsman's garden on the grandest scale. As a result of its owner's great vision over the past 60 years, the visitor has laid out before him every available plant it is possible to grow in County Waterford. There are comprehensive collections of magnolias, pieris, rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias. Approximately $100,000 in new plant material is being added to the garden's collection each year. Nothing has been spared in providing some of the grandest rhododendrons for this garden to add to this impressive collection of plants.