Rhododendrons: r. loderei 'King George'

I've read a lot about 'King George' but never seem to be able to find it at local nurseries. Anyone have info on why, or where I can possibly get one?
Thanks!

 

It's stocked down here. However, not all varieties of plants are seen in garden centers in a particular area every year. Supply varies, as does what staff orders. If you've called around (as in more than a couple places) and nobody has it they're either out for this year, or it wasn't available this year.

 

I've kept my eye out for it over the recent years, and have never seen it. I've even browsed some websites.

Don't even get me started on plants available in the US. Too sad.

 

Have seen it at Southlands in Vancouver and Minters in Chilliwack, don't know where they get it. Maybe Chris Klapwijk on this forum would be able to help. Can take some years to bloom naturally.

 

Thanks. I visit Southlands fairly regularly - maybe just bad timing.
Re bloom time - I'm patient and time goes by too quickly anyway. I've got a spot ready and waiting for whenever I find it.

 

Blooms in pots at garden centers here. Being a hybrid rhododendron, if it had to be bigger to bloom it might not be offered in general outlets.

 

Have only seen 1 gal. pots here, probably 6+ years more to bloom. Additives may be used to force an earlier aged blooming plant, don't know if they work on 'King George' though.

 

No, one that small would not flower.

 

We currently do not have R. 'Loderi King George' available, but thanks for the plug chimera.
The Loderi group doesn't root easily, I'll do some grafts.

 

Be careful what you wish for. Planting a Loderi King George is sort of like using a Catalpa as a feature tree - fine until it fills up the whole back garden.

The Loderis get seriously large, although like any Rhodo, they can be pruned for size.

You don't see it much as people tend to have smaller gardens these days and aren't typically in the market for anything that grows really large.

My personal preference is the Loderi Venus. It has a very nice pink blush to it and a wonderful perfume. I'm sorry I can't recall where I bought it, but it was one of the local nurseries a few years ago.

 

That was my thought too - that the plant size would make it unsuitable for many gardens. I took out some lawn this year & have a fairly large shady place to fill. As I have a special interest in fragrant plants, would love to add this to my garden.

I will keep my eye out for 'Venus' - sounds very nice. I don't recall ever seeing it so maybe it's not much easier to find than 'King George.' I just planted 'Cotton Candy’ this spring and apparently it is a cross of 'Loderei Venus’ x ‘Marinus Koster’. Beautiful flowers but I think the fragrance is not as strong .

 

Bill, "although like any Rhodo, they can be pruned for size". Expect you don't mean any Rhodo will have new growth break out when pruned back hard, as there are some that do not respond very well to hard pruning.

 

It is so long since I bought mine that I don't even remember where I got it. Mine did take ages to bloom and blooms, er, sparingly (three trusses in as many years) but I am guessing I don't water it enough. It is a great foliage plant even without flowers. Also, I prune it. I wonder if the Rhodo society would be a way to contact other sellers (sorry Chris, don't mean this in an obstructive way!) who might have it. I might be able to find contact info for a couple of the growers who were at the Park and Tilford sale.

 

Quite true. The azaleas and lepidote (scaly) Rhodos can be pruned just about anywhere and they will break new growth.

The elepidotes are fussier about this and to be safe, pruning back to a leaf whorl will ensure continued growth. I have pruned much more severely - I took the chainsaw to a Cunningham's White that was about 18 feet high. Chopped it off 3 feet above the ground with very little green at all left - we planned to remove it completely as it was right beside the house. Forgot to follow through and the plant is now about 20 feet tall again and none the worse for the wear. R. ponticum would take dynamite or Agent Orange to eradicate even if you cut it back right to the ground.

Best plan on elepidotes is to prune one stem at a time, making sure to leave a leaf whorl and when you get those stems growing again, then try the others further back - if they stick to the rule and don't break, the plant will still live, you've just changed the shape

The general rule is that the ability to take pruning varies inversely with how much you want to keep the plant - if you don't care if it dies, it will prosper. If it is your only example of a rare plant, mild pruning is sure to damage it profoundly. Well maybe not quite that bad, but it certainly seems like it sometimes.

 

Bill, thank you for the clarification. Can say R. 'Blewbury' , and understand some R. thomsonii hybrids, do not respond well to hard pruning.

 

Have found some retail nurseries are happy to order a plant brought in for the customer, if available from their regular suppliers stock.

 

They all bloom on the ends of the strongest shoots, cutting back to control size causes re-growth from side shoots that may not be large enough to flower. Even the termination of a branch by a flower bud may cause that branch to skip a year or more, until the new growth coming from below the branch terminal where the flower cluster was is itself strong enough to bloom. Large-flowered kinds not dead-headed after bloom will also have energy of flowered branches taken up for awhile after by seed production. You can look at many specimens and see these growth behaviors being demonstrated quite visibly.