QBARS - v8n2 Rhododendrons in Eastern Canada

Rhododendrons In Eastern Canada

It is surprising to note an account of the hybridizing of rhododendrons in the Eastern section of Canada. In an article titled Rhododendrons by Leslie Hancock in the 1954 Year Book of the Cloverleaf Horticultural Society , Port Credit, Ontario, Canada. Mr. Hancock writes of the different varieties grown there, many are species found in the Eastern United States and one species is mentioned that is indigenous to the peat swamps of Eastern Canada, Azalea nudiflorum .

The writer of the paper makes mention of using R. smirnowii as a parent for many of his hybrids. To quote from the article: "We have already produced some fine hybrids using R. smirnowii as one parent, of which more may be heard later when they have been adequately tested."

R. smirnowii is a member of the R. ponticum series and is mentioned often in the articles on hybridization on the East Coast. These articles by Mr. Leach, Nearing and Hardgrove have appeared in the Quarterly Bulletin of the American Rhododendron Society in past months. - EDITOR.