Teaching Rhododendrons to Do What They do not Want to Do

摘要

Ialways thought it would be nice to have a couple of rhododendrons standardized on top of a trunk at either side of the entrance to my garden. Ideally they would be shaped like a palm tree, and they would be topped by gorgeous blooms each spring. I had a number of starts with 'Chevalier Felix de Sauvage', which is a robust, hardy hybrid with coral rose trusses with a splash of dark red coral in the center of each flower (Fig. 1). This is a tried and true hybrid that has been around since it was hybridized by Mr. Sauvage about 1870. The only problem is it is a bushy rhododendron that likes to grow out as well as up.