We didn’t think 2008 would ever be equaled in the Rhododendron department, but 2009 is shaping up to be every bit as good. The South coast is awash in them, and they are at their peak in the last week of May. Cultivators crimp off the blooms to train the plants to grow more of them in the future, but all of ours are wild and most are covered with blooms despite our refusal to indulge in such foolishness.
"Big and Beautiful" best describes the 2009 rhodie season.
We have nothing scientific on which to base this other than our observations over the years, but we’re convinced they are helpful to chanterelles and especially to Hedgehogs. While crawling through a rhody thicket in the fall in search of hedgehogs can be claustrophobic, it also can be very productive!
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