Rhododendron ‘Tiana’

Rhododendron ‘Tiana’
(roh-do-DEN-dron)
Ericaceae (er-ek-AY-see-ay)

I am leaving for work early this morning but thought I would post a couple of photos from yesterday. The Rhododendron collection at the Estate took a real hit last winter. Several old established shrubs bit the dust. A tree came down and sheared half of the Bloodgood Japanese Maple off and crushed about 6 or 7 rhodos. Sometimes it seems that I wasn’t destined to grow Rhododendrons but I keep trying. There are about 100 cultivars on the property and when they all bloom it can be quite a sight. I think it is going to be a rebuilding year. I am buying a few new ones this spring as replacements. I do know that right now is a bad time to judge the conditions of the plants because later when the new growth comes out they look a lot better. This one is ‘Tiana’ and it is a nice white with red blotch in the throat. The flowers fade to a light pink. Mine is about 5 feet tall and is spreading nicely. I would rate it high for foliage, habit, hardiness and flowers. It is a yakushimanum cross that had a fuzzy underside of the leaves.



This is a picture of the new growth on Dwarf Blue Spruce.




This picture shows just a little of the damage from yesterday’s storm. The ride through Ridgefield was tough with a lot of road closures. The storm didn’t do anything to the garden I was working on. Another house that I work on occasionally had a huge Linden Tree that was snapped off about 10 feet off the ground.