A project I started well over 20 years ago has come into fabulous floral fruition this spring with the Magnolia Grove here at the RSBG in glorious full bloom for the first time. A combination of several factors has led to this grand display including, most importantly, the necessary length of time having passed […]
December 8, 2015 I have just returned from a very successful three and a half week plant-hunting expedition to China. This was a trip designed to cover a great deal of territory in a short amount of time, all made possible by the increasing number of modern paved highways now being completed throughout the country. […]
August 27, 2015 Today’s discussion covers two topics although they are closely intertwined with one other. For the first portion, those of us in the Mediterranean climate of the Pacific NW have thoroughly enjoyed/ suffered through what people will either say was the greatest or worst summer ever. This depends of course on whether you […]
I vividly remember my first visit to this special garden in Fort Bragg on the coast of northern California. I was still fairly new to rhododendrons and the RSBG and it was my first exposure to maddenias and many of the tender big-leafs growing outside without protection. With its year-round mild temperatures, this coastal garden […]
After almost 15 years in the making, we are nearing completion of what will be one of the most spectacular sections of the RSBG – the Big-Leaf Garden. This is the single-largest individual display in the RSBG devoted to a single group or theme in the entire garden. With an almost complete collection of the […]
HOOTMANODENDRON November 12, 2012 We have just returned from a very successful seed and plant collecting expedition to China. Thanks to a great seed year, excellent timing and the fact that we covered a tremendous amount of territory in our three weeks of field work, we managed to find seed on a tremendous assortment of […]
Just arrived in Taiwan, plant hunting portion is finished and have said goodby to most of my compatriots. Now cleaning and sorting and preparing for inspection. In a small room in Taoyuan which is a long story in itself. A hugely successful trip if we can manage to get everything home. At least four new […]
“Have just returned from Leigongping mountain where I enjoyed one of my finest days in China. On a crisp, clear day (following hard rain on the climb up the day before) we hiked through the best preserved deciduous forest I have ever witnessed in my 17 years in Asia. A remarkable assemblage of trees dominated […]
Back in a big city tonight (Xichang in southern Sichuan) first shower in several days and with internet. I have enjoyed lifetime memories of hiking through forests of 20 ft. high R. bureavii and massive mountainsides of the big-leaf – Rhododendron rex, many with incredibly deep, almost chocolate-brown indumentum. some of the most spectacular scenery […]
(Steve Hootman left for China on October 2, 2012 for more plant hunting & exploring. Here are some of his quick reports from the field.) October 7th: Great day yesterday, Rhododendron rex, bureavii, giant panax tree, etc. Am now in the very southern tip of Sichuan.
One of the primary non-rhododendron collections that we focus upon and feature in the RSBG is the Gaultheria collection. The gaultherias or “wintergreens’ are a widespread group of plants related to rhododendrons. They are called wintergreen because the species native in eastern North America, Gaultheria procumbens, was one of the few evergreens found growing in […]
First Time Blooms! Steve Hootman After several years of patiently waiting, our oldest and largest specimen of the enigmatic Rhododendron crenulatum, a very rare member of Subsection Maddenia, has finally flowered. While we were all a bit underwhelmed by the slightly less than one-inch-long cream flowers with golden spots, we were very excited to finally […]
Since my last blog in March of 2009, a great deal has taken place within the fenced-in confines of the 24-acre Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden. If you are a member of our organization, you have some idea of what has been happening (and thus why it has taken me more than two years to get […]
Steve Hootman February 26, 2009 I know many of you around the country (and in Canada) are still suffering through what has been a long, and often unusual, winter. Locally, we have had very little precipitation since the beginning of the new year (normally one of our rainiest periods) and I have actually had to […]
