Working Together in Comox Valley
Harry Wright
Courtenay, British Columbia
Canada

The North Island Rhododendron Society (NIRS) working with the city of Courtenay, B.C., on Vancouver Island, under the Partners in Parks program have created a rhododendron garden right in the center of a high pedestrian traffic area.

The Comox Valley Rhododendron Garden in Courtenay, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island. Photo by Harry Wright

The city provided soil, mulch, irrigation system, and gravel chips for the pathways. The NIRS provided plant material, plant identification, garden signs, and labour for construction and maintenance.

The first bed was completed April 1996, the second bed September 1996, the third bed April 1997, the fourth bed September 1997, and the fifth bed September 1998, for a total of 126 varieties of rhododendrons.

The garden is situated next to the Tourist Bureau, close to the Marina and Airpark. A very popular Riverway Walking Path leads directly through the garden. One of the leading assets of this garden, next to the rhododendrons, is location. The garden is exposed to the public, and it has certainly been well received..

One passing comment was: "Oh, I thought they only came in red." .

Most gardens have to be sought out. This one is where the people are.

COMOX VALLEY RHODODENDRON GARDEN PLANT LIST
Identification: Bed #1
1 'Black Magic'*
2 'Catalode' (syn. 'County of York')
3 'Tessa'
4 'Lavendula'*
5 R. callimorphum , Edinburgh form
6 'Spellbinder'
7 'Trilby'
8 'Everestianum'
9 'Albert Schweitzer'
10 R. macrophyllum 'Album'*
11 'Catawbiense Album'
12 R. minus
13 'Blue Peter'
14 R. auriculatum
15 'Mars'
16 'Olive'
17 'Belle Heller'
18 'Malahat'
19 'Mrs. A. T. de la Mare'
20 'Vulcan'
21 'Anna Rose Whitney'
22 'Bruce Brechtbill'
23 R. cinnabarinum ssp. xanthocodon KW #58749 (formerly R. concatenans)
24 'Mission Bells'
25 'Molly Ann'
26 Jock Group
27 'Canadian Sunset'
28 R. degronianum ssp. heptamerum (formerly R. metternichii)

Plant Identification Bed: #2
1 'April Dawn'
2 'Purple Lace'
3 'Daphnoides'
4 'Caroline'
5 R. yakushimanum #3
6 R. yakushimanum #2
7 R. yakushimanum #1
8 'Pillow Party'*
9 'Yellow Pippin'
10 'President Lincoln'
11 'Warlock'
12 'Catawbiense Boursault'
13 'Chionoides'
14 PJM Group
15 R. fortunei
16 'Stoplight'
17 'Taurus'
18 'Hotei'
19 'Mucronatum'
20 'Exbury Naomi'
21 R. yakushimanum
22 R. rubiginosum
23 'Dopey'
24 R. yunnanense
25 'Rosa Mundi'
26 R. pseudochrysanthum
27 'Royston Red'*
28 'Lavender Queen'
29 'White Gold'
30 'Yellow Pages'
31 R. sanguineum

Plant Identification Bed: #3
1 'Buttermint'
2 R. thomsonii
3 'Virginia Richards'
4 'Marchioness of Landsdowne'
5 R. schlippenbachii
6 'Saint Trudy'
7 'Isabel Pierce'
8 R. minus Caroliniam Group (formerly R. carolinianum )
9 'Haida Gold'
10 R. augustinii
11 'America'
12 'Wheatley'
1 3 R. beesianum
14 R. oreodoxa var. fargesii (formerly R. fargesii)
15 R. oreotrephes
16 'Pink Cameo'
1 7 Mandalay Group
18 Detonsum Group (formerly R. detonsum )
19 'Cunningham's White'
20 R. moupinense
21 'Wilbrit'*
22 'Grumpy'
Plant Identification Bed: #4
1 'Red Walloper'*
2 'Anna' (Lem)
3 'Markeeta's Prize'
5 'Pink Pearl'
6 R. decorum ssp. diaprepes (formerly R diaprepes )
7 PJM Group, white flowered
8 'Point Defiance'
9 'Creamy Chiffon'
10 'Furnivall's Daughter'
11 'Emasculum'
12 'Crossroads'*
13 'Lady de Rothschild'
14 'High Gold'*
15 R. smirnowii
16 'Grand Slam'*
17 'Sierra Sunset'
18 'Baden-Baden'
19 'Mildred Amateis'

Plant Identification Bed: #5
1 'General Eisenhower'*
2 'Crater Lake'
3 'Gomer Waterer'
4 'Bambino'
5 'Moonwax'
6 'Black Sport'*
7 'Mrs. G. W. Leak'
8 'Potlatch'*
9 'The Honourable Jean Marie de Montague'
10 'Ignatius Sargent'
11 'Nancy Evans'
12 'Kluis Sensation'
13 'Sapphire'
14 'Arthur Bedford'
15 R. ponticum , variegated
16 'Lord Roberts'
17 'Minnetonka'
18 'Avondale'
19 'Crater Lake'
20 R. eclecteum
21 'Mary Fleming'
22 'Anah Kruschke'
23 'Nova Zembla'
24 'Susan'
25 'J.H. van Ness'
26 'Dora Amateis'

* Name is unregistered

Harry Wright is president of the North Island Rhododendron Society, the North Island Chapter of the ARS.