Rhododendrons for BeginnersThe deciduous azaleas o f Rhododendron subgenus Hymenanthes

摘要

In my first article on “Rhododendronsfor Beginners” (Jamieson 2018),I explained what the differentrhododendron group names(rhododendrons, azaleas, maddeniaand vireyas) referred to. In this article,I discuss how the deciduous azaleasare related to other rhododendronsand to each other. Deciduous azaleaspecies are naturally most commonin North America, and virtually allrhododendron growers in the east eitherhave them in their gardens or have seenthem growing wild, where they put onspectacular floral displays in the spring.While there is only one species growingwild in western North America,many western gardeners at least havedeciduous azalea hybrids, both for theirimpressive flower colours and for their fragrance. I therefore thought it wouldbe interesting to discuss these wonderfulrhododendrons in more detail.