Rhododendrons are decorative flowering shrubs of the Heather family, include more than 600 varieties of deciduous and evergreen forms. Rhododendrons came to gardens around the world from China, Japan, and Korea; some species naturally grow in the Caucasus, North America, and Australia. IN
1854, during the expedition of the Pallas frigate to Southeast Asia, naval officer Alexander Yegorovich Schlippenbach discovered a deciduous form with delicate pink flowers, which later became the golden foundation of landscape designers around the world and got his name.
Schlippenbach's rhododendron will decorate the garden with a pale pink bloom
Biological description
According to the botanical description, Schlippenbach’s rhododendron has bell-shaped flowers with a diameter of 8-15 cm rarely single, more often collected in panicles of 3-6 pieces, sometimes bloom before the leaves. In modern varieties, the main color of the petals is pale pink, saturated pink, white pink, pale orange, tender carmine, white with purple dots at the base of the petals.
The flowering period in the Moscow Region begins in mid-May, in Latvia and Finland at the end of May and beginning of June and lasts 14-20 days, then boxes with small seeds are formed.
Important! Rhododendrons are poisonous plants due to the content of neurotoxin, so you can not make tea, prepare infusions and decoctions of their flowers and dried leaves.
Outstanding successes in the selection and cultivation of rhododendrons were achieved at the University of Helsinki, in the botanical garden of which there is a collection of shrubs with high winter hardiness, and the Helsinki University variety tolerates frosts down to -40 ° C.
Grade "University of Helsinki"
Root system
In nature, the Schlippenbach rhododendron shrub is small in height up to 60 cm, and it settles on the dry rocky slopes of the mountains, which is why it is sometimes called the Alpine rose. Higher specimens of 2-3 m are found on the edges of forests with well-permeable soils. Rhododendron root surface creeping at a depth of 6-10 cm with a large number of small suction roots. Therefore, the culture does not tolerate drying out of the soil.
Trunk and leaves
The stem and branches of Schlippenbach's rhododendron are exposed, and the rosette of elongated shiny leaves with a smooth or slightly wavy edge is located at the very top. The shrub does not differ in rapid growth, in one season it grows by 4-10 cm and at 10 years its height does not exceed 1 m.
Schlippenbach Rhododendron bush at 10
Differences from other species
Differences from rhododendron of short-fruited, Daurian, Kamchatka and other varieties are as follows:
- larger flowers;
- leaves fall for the winter;
- winter hardiness from -26 ° C and below;
- discreet shoot growth.
All of the above are positive properties of the form and indicates that it can be planted in your garden.
Breeding methods
Reproduction of rhododendrons is possible vegetative and seed. To preserve varietal qualities, cuttings and rooting of layering are used. For the purpose of breeding a new variety or hybrid, seeds pollinated with the desired species are sown.
Vegetative way
Shoots for 3-4 weeks give roots in a substrate with peat, humus from needles and sand, which is taken half as much as the rest of the ingredients. For rooting, you can take the branched tops of the shoots without dividing the branches. They root better than single cuttings.
Shoot top for rooting
Temperature mode
Shoots and cuttings can be rooted at the end of summer in the open ground or in a greenhouse in February. The optimum air temperature for rooting is 16-24 ° C, air humidity is close to 100%. If in winter it is difficult to maintain such a temperature in the greenhouse, it is enough that the substrate is warmed up to 10-12 ° C.
Propagation by cuttings
Separate cuttings from 5 to 15 cm long are planted in August in rows on a bed with a distance of 15-20 cm, between cuttings 8-10 cm. Watering is done daily, it is possible to sprinkler. In the greenhouse, container rooting is practiced. Cuttings are buried in glasses with a substrate of 2-3 cm and covered with glass jars or plastic bottles.
Rooting the cuttings in a container
The plants are aired every day for 30-40 minutes, the soil in the container is slightly loosened to avoid the growth of molds and putrefactive bacteria. A signal of successful rooting is the beginning of the growth of new leaves on the shoot.
Breech Propagation
Rhododendron is easy to vegetatively propagate in the garden. To do this, after flowering, choose the lowest located branches, bend them to the ground and pin them with a wire staple so that the whorl with branching shoots is underground. Sprinkle with peat on top, moisturize every 4-5 days. In autumn, the shoot is cut off with secateurs from the mother plant and dug up so as not to damage the roots.
Selection and preparation of the landing site
Choosing a place for rhododendron, where to plant a single bush or group of plants on the site, is a difficult question, since the plantings will grow in the same place for 20-30 years or more. In addition, it is difficult to grow these plants. They do not like the open sun, in this case the foliage can take on a brown hue.
The site should be protected from strong winds and stagnation of melt water. If the soil is poorly leaking water, drainage is needed under the bush.
Note! The soil should have an acidic reaction with a pH of 5-6
In terms of design decisions, the bushes look especially attractive if they are planted at some distance from each other in the form of multi-colored spots on the background of an emerald lawn.
Landing rules
Planting pit do 2 times more than the volume of the root system of the seedling. If the soil on the site is alkaline, it is necessary to prepare a hole even larger, as under an adult bush. Fence the edges with a sheet of plastic and fill the pit with a substrate of peat and acid soil, leaving 15-20 cm on top. The bush is installed in the center of the pit, straighten the roots and fall asleep in acidic soil. After filling, they are gently tamped with soles, watered, then mulched with wood chips or peat.
How to care for a rhododendron garden flower
Plant care consists in shaping and pruning, watering and fertilizing, sheltering bushes for the winter and protection from spring frosts.
Fertilizers
In the spring, to stimulate growth and flowering under the bushes, they give nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizer Ammophos 30-40 g to the near-stem circle, after removing the mulch. In August, 20 g of superphosphate and 30 g of potassium sulfate are added in the same manner. To increase the decorativeness of leaves during the growing season, sheet top dressing with complexes with microelements is recommended.
Pruning
In the second or third year of planting, young bushes need formative pruning. Choose a central strong shoot 40-45 cm long and cut off its top. During the summer, he begins to give a lot of lateral shoots, the plant shrubs, acquires a magnificent spreading form. In subsequent years, pruning is reduced to sanitary. Remove too old branches, diseased and broken shoots.
Rhododendron preparation for wintering
In late September, scaffolds are prepared for rhododendrons, which are subsequently covered with white covering material. Plants have a long vegetation period of up to 200 days, and not all regions manage to discard foliage before winter. This is already happening under a spacious shelter. In the spring, the plant wakes up early and throws buds, the frame protects them from frost, under the fabric it has enough light.
Frame
Diseases and Pests
Among the diseases, a decorative shrub can be affected by a viral mosaic in the form of rusty spots on leaves and growths, tracheomycosis and late blight. To combat these diseases, the drugs Fundazol, Strobi, Skor are used. Pest insects that sometimes settle on rhododendrons are a spider mite, tobacco thrips, acacia false shields. In this case, Aktara, Karate Zeon, Fufanon are effective.
The rhododendron garden is magnificent in its bloom! It is enough to follow the recommendations on how to plant, grow and care for the garden rhododendron flower, and the plants will certainly please with their fragrance.
