QBARS - v11n2 Cover

Cover
Rudolph Henny

The illustration on the cover of the Quarterly Bulletin is R. tephropeplum . This species, a member of the Boothii series should only he attempted in a protected garden, though I have grown it for a number of years to a good size it will eventually be caught by low temperatures and cut to the ground. The American Rhododendron Society rates the hardiness of R. tephropeplum as H-4 or hardy to plus 5 F. The forms I am familiar with would hardly sand more than twenty degrees of frost. The new ratings in the R. H. S. Rhododendron Handbook 1956 rate R. tephropeplum with the hardiness code B or the hardiness equivalent attributed to R. 'Mars' or 'Cynthia'.

On several occasions I have seen forms with clear pink flowers under the name of R. deliense but they have been rather small, but the forms with the rose or purplish crimson bloom have been much larger, and I think more attractive. R. deliense has been merged into a single species and is now known as R. tephropeplum .

The color slide was taken by Cecil Smith in his garden and loaned to the Society.