Thank you for posting, you have a great site!

Happy New Year!

very beautiful images, jan.
i can't stop looking at this one below. something about the lighting makes the flowers appear to illuminate from within. blue, purple, pink, yellow...what a visual feast!

Here is a link that might be useful: rhododendron augustinii hemsl

Your photographs are exceptionally nice - thank you for posting them. Those pages are a wonderful presentation of the different forms and colors...

And I'm sure most of us were ready for a little peek of Spring :) Thank you again, and Happy Holidays!

Beautiful shots of the flowers. It would be nice to see the plants and where they are growing in relation to their surroundings. As it is, it looks like a nursery catalogue.
Flowers are pretty, but with Rhododendrons, you need the plant too. Rhodies are not Roses.

Lem's Monarch below.

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Botann,

I photograph rhododendrons extensively and appreciate your comments. However, the size, shape and density of a rhododendron plant is not as dependent on the variety, the environment (sun, shade, wind, hardiness zone) and age of the plant. Sure there are differences in the leaves, but these should show up in truss photos. After photographing over 2,000 rhododendrons, I decided that some garden photos are nice to show the plants, but that individual plant photos are not as useful as truss photos.

My most recent project involved visiting 28 gardens in Scotland and the Lake District of England. I took over 1,400 photos. I took garden photos showing the display in the garden and I took individual truss photos. I only took plant photos if the plant was very unusual such as R. sinogrande with its gorgeous huge leaves.

Individual truss photos are not that reliable either. For example, the hybrid rhododendron Scintillation opens as bright pink with a prominent golden blotch and then over a 3 week period fades to a pinkish tan with a faded blotch.

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Scintillation First

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Scintillation Last

The size of a truss varies immensely also depending on location. Many of the cabbage heads of the west coast have only slightly above average size trusses on the east coast. These would include the Loderi's and Mrs Tom H. Lowinsky.

Correction. The second sentence should read:

However, the size, shape and density of a rhododendron plant is not as dependent on the variety, AS IT IS ON the environment (sun, shade, wind, hardiness zone) and age of the plant.

Sorry