Rhododendrons

Rhododendrons belong in the plant family Ericaceae, commonly known as the ‘heath’ family. The name Rhododendron comes from the Greek Rhodos, which means rose and dendron which means tree. It is a huge genus, containing over 800 species which are widely distributed.

The first recorded Rhododendron to Britain was Rhodendron. hirsutum in 1656, a small compact dwarf plant from the Euopean Alps with deep pink flowers during June and July. It wasn’t until 1811 when Rhododendron arboreum from the Himalayas came into cultivation that breeding of Rhododendrons began in earnest. By 1856  the introduction of Rhododendron fortunei from China with white scented species made an even wider range of hybrids possible. In the early 1920s Lionel de Rothschild began to create new hybrids from his developing 200 acre gardens. He contributed to plant hunting expeditions and received seed from George Forrest, Joseph Rock and Frank Kingdon-Ward. Several of these original collections can be seen in the gardens today, along with the hybrids Lionel created. In all some 1200 hybrids were created by Lionel between 1920 and 1942. Some of the finest flowering Rhododendrons can be seen by visitors to the gardens during April and May.