AWESOME, UNDERUSED

摘要

I knew rhododendrons at an early age. These woody evergreens were great havens in a game of hide-and-seek—if you could find a way to navigate the tangled hell of branches before the count of 20.1 grew up on the warm end of Zone 4 in northern New Hampshire, where most large-leaved rhododendrons struggled or outright died. Those cultivars that could persist, such as the rugged and commonly planted PJMs [Rhododendron 'PJM', Zones 4-7), were unknowingly part of my earliest horticultural experience. Today I'm a horticulturist charged with managing a rhododendron collection at a botanical garden. While I still find myself crawling in and around them, typically now while engaged in the task of weeding, I have come to appreciate them for more than their screening capacity [although popping up and spooking unsuspecting visitors still warms my soul). As I have tended this space, the varieties have shown their peculiarities, from blooms that can be brazen or demure, to interesting foliage that refreshes andexcites their veneer.