QBARS - v27n4 R. 'King Tut'

R. 'King Tut'
David G. Leach

'King Tut' must be rated among the two or three best of the Shammarello hybrids. It is a robust, handsome evergreen shrub at all seasons, and a notable rhododendron in flower, with king-size trusses of vivacious rose-pink flowers, enhanced in attractiveness by the contrasting darker shade of their exterior. After 17 years, my specimens are about five and a half feet tall and as much in width. In 1963, after a -35° F. winter, 'King Tut' suffered a loss of only 5 % of its florets.

It propagates easily. This is a distinctive cultivar, its convex, down-turned leaves identifying it at a glance. The parentage is R. smirnowii x 'America'. It blooms at the very end of May, four or five days later than the older standard clones of commerce in the East. R. smirnowii has not distinguished itself as a parent; 'King Tut' is the exception that prevents every prudent hybridizer from palpating his prejudices and petting his preferences.