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hallerlake

Rhododendron Stewartstonian

hallerlake
10 years ago

Has anyone grown this? It's is supposed to be more sun and heat tolerant.

Comments (15)

  • mikebotann
    10 years ago

    I've grown a few. If the small leaves are an indication of their ability to stand drought is any indication, yes, it should do better. I'm not particularly enthralled with the red shade of the blossoms. It seems 'off'. Maybe best described as a dull red.
    Mike

  • Embothrium
    10 years ago

    Open habit hybrid evergreen azalea prone to bleaching of the flowers, if I remember ones that were here for years correctly - most interesting thing may be the winter leaf color.

    If you want orange R. nakaharae is probably your best bet.

  • hallerlake
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I have R. nakaharae. I was most interested in the winter color.

  • mikebotann
    10 years ago

    The red winter color of Stewartsonian is a better shade of red than the blossoms in Spring in my opinion.
    I have a couple of Nakaharae azaleas. They're low growing, and late blooming. One of the nicer azaleas for the rock garden.
    Here's a picture of Stewartsonian. I think it's the red in front of a red on the right (it's been awhile. ;-))
    Mike

  • hallerlake
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    If someone can suggest something with good winter color, and better flowers, I'm open to suggestions. Just not pink flowers. my husband dislikes pink flowers.

  • Embothrium
    10 years ago

    The name is after Stewartstown, PA - hence the 3 tee spelling, with the apparently fairly common 2 tee spelling being a mistake.

    Best way to get desired floral attributes is to buy in bloom. Winter leaf color you would look for now but outlets are of course not well stocked at this time. However, you could walk around a labeled collection like the Seattle Botanic Garden WPA with its Azalea Way and Japanese Garden - if so inclined.

    Recently the Witt Winter Garden has been great, and it is right off Azalea Way. The north part of the WWG has a section called Kaempferi Bed, after the evergreen azaleas planted there.

  • hallerlake
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I've seen it spelled at least three different ways. I've been to the winter garden many times. Didn't see anything I wanted for that particular spot. Maybe with the flower and garden show coming the selection in the nurseries will get better. Maybe I'll see something there. I may just wind up with Nandinas.

  • mikebotann
    10 years ago

    "The name is after Stewartstown, PA - hence the 3 tee spelling, with the apparently fairly common 2 tee spelling being a mistake."

    Thanks bboy, it's always nice to know the correct spelling and the reason why.
    Mike

  • Embothrium
    10 years ago

    Heavenly bamboo has developed a mildew problem that is particularly noticeable on [Plum Passion] = 'Monum'. If you are in a frost pocket there by the lake you could also see cold damage some winters - I have had Nandina freeze down twice in recent years on Camano Island; a planting I did on a low-lying Everett property right before a cold winter also went to the ground.

    A lot of hot climate stuff can have trouble getting ready for winter in our area, and if a planting spot is not the warm, well-drained situation many broad-leaved evergreens in general* prefer there can be trouble.

    *You can see the same pattern even with the local native species, with except for salal growing on top of stumps in swamps the Douglas fir/salal/madrona/evergreen huckleberry vegetation being a feature of drier, often more maritime sites with all the damper acreage having a lot of alder, salmon-berry and cedar etc. A common thing is humps of better draining ground with salal and friends on it with the deciduous species dominating all of the understory space between.

  • mikebotann
    10 years ago

    Nandina is commonly grown as a landscape shrub in Florida. I've never been too comfortable with it here, interesting as it is. Ternstromia is another plant I've seen down there. Sometimes it's trimmed in to a hedge. It looks plastic to me.
    I have both, but am having a hard time placing them so they look like they belong. Maybe my Jurassic park area. ;-)
    Mike...wandering aimlessly about.

  • Embothrium
    10 years ago

    Traditional use of heavenly bamboo is to plant it by the back door, so when you are having trouble with the wife you can go out and complain to the shrub.

    Presumably the vertical habit of the species is at least part of the basis for this idea - kept from flopping open it does appear to be standing there.

    Ternstroemia goes well with Camellia japonica in a mixed planting. It can be seen so placed on the Landscape Planting Plan near the end of Grant & Grant, Garden Design Illustrated (Timber Press, 1983, University of Washington Press, 1954). The same drawing also shows more than one effective placement of Nandina, in combination with other broad-leaved evergreen shrubs.

  • mikebotann
    10 years ago

    When I first became interested in landscape design I bought that book bboy. I'd recommend it to anyone who gardens in this area. Their book Trees and Shrubs for Pacific Northwest Gardens is another one I would recommend. It lists Nandina and Ternstromia.
    It's been awhile since I've read them. Time to read them again. It will be like visiting an old friend.
    Mike

  • mikebotann
    10 years ago

    here's a picture of one of my Nakaharae azaleas. Not much for Fall color, but I like the way it hugs the rocks. Out in a perennial bed, it would be lost.
    Can't seem to find a picture of it in bloom. They're here somewhere.
    Mike...not much of a perennial bed person.

  • hallerlake
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I have my R. nakaharae planted around my rocks, so as not to obscure them. Most of my perrenials are just there until the shrubs fill in.

  • Embothrium
    10 years ago

    For the most part the Grant book is about mixed border design, including effective placement and usage of different basic categories of ornamental plants such as broad-leaved evergreen shrubs, deciduous shrubs and herbaceous perennials, both as part of the overall scheme and in relation to one another. Although based on magazine articles the Grants wrote and kind of a slender volume itself, the "theory of planting design" that it captures in print is by far the best I have seen. The interplay and orchestration of elements their approach involved is stunning in its complexity and completeness - no purple-leaved plums under-planted with 'Otto Luyken' laurels here.

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