I was more excited about leaves yesterday. Here are two rhodies with great leaves. Rhododendron arizelum - nice bark on this one And one with a great name - Rhododendron degronianum subsp. yakushimanum. Sure hydrangeas have flowers, but these leaves and stems were large and fuzzy and impressive. This is Hydrangea aspera subsp. sargentiana, at Upper Asian Way and Tschonoski. This one is a bit different. It looks like one we found a tag for, Hydrangea aspera 'Macrophylla', but it's not exactly the same location, though they're both near Lower Asian Way and Kingdon Ward, and we haven't found the tag for this one. It's not as fuzzy as the sargentiana, and the leaves are not as dark, but they might even be a bit bigger. I found my favourite of the day not in the Asian Garden, but way at the end on the north side - Pseudolarix amabilis. I got all excited about this last year too.
Cullen, Hardy Rhododendron Species - A Guide to Identification (2005, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh) lists the first rhododendron as R. rex subsp. arizelum (Balfour and Forrest) Chamberlain Synonym R. arizelum Balfour and Forrest and the second as Rhododendron yakushimanum Nakai Synonym R. degronianum subsp. yakushimanum (Nakai) Hara