Steve’s Blog – “Hootmanodendron”

  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 […]

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 […]