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Rhododendron of the Year Plant Awards: 2016


Mid-Atlantic USA Region

R. hyperythrum

Elepidote Rhododendron: R. hyperythrum

Flower white, rarely pale pink, sometimes spotted pink or purple, funnel-campanulate shaped.  Truss has 7-12 flowers.  Blooms early midseason.  Leaves elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, up to 4½" long, margins usually recurved, dark green, held for 3-4 years.  Plant compact, round shaped.  Height: 3 ft. in 10 yrs.  Plant is hardy to -10°F (-23°C).  Species that grows in the wild in northern Taiwan.

 
R. minus var. minus

Lepidote Rhododendron: R. minus var. minus

Flower pink to purplish pink or white, sometimes spotted greenish, 1"-1½" across, funnel-shaped.  Truss holds 4-12 flowers.  Blooms early midseason to midseason.  Leaves broadly elliptic to lanceolate, up to 4" long, apex acuminate, light to dark green.  Typical height: 4 ft. in 10 yrs.  Cold hardy to -15°F (-26°C).  Found in the wild in Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.

 
R. 'Inch'

Evergreen Azalea: 'Inch'

Flower white, sanded and striped with deep and strong purplish pink, amount of variegation varies year to year from moderate to heavy, broadly funnel-shaped, 2⅜" across, wavy-edged lobes.  Truss has 2-3 flowers.  Blooms midseason.  Leaves narrowly elliptic, acute apex, cuneate base, 1⅛" long, moderate olive green above with discrete white hairs above and below.  Spreading, dense growth habit.  Grows to a typical height of about 1 ft in 10 yrs.  Hardy to -15°F (-26°C).  Hybridized by Clagett.

 
R. atlanticum

Deciduous Azalea: R. atlanticum

Known as the Coastal azalea.  Flower white often flushed pink, narrowly funnel-shaped, very fragrant.  Flowers before or just as the new leaves open.  Blooms midseason.  Leaves ovate or obovate to elliptic, up to 2" long, bright bluish-green, deciduous.  Grows to 3-4 ft. tall in 10 years.  Cold hardy to -15°F (-26°C).  Easily propagated by division, root or stem cuttings.  Native species found in the eastern United States coastal plains from Pennsylvania to Georgia.

Photos (top to bottom) by Herb Spady, Frederick Thurber, Buck Clagett, Margaret Taylor.

Prior Years Selections for Mid-Atlantic USA Region

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

 

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004


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