On a dark February night, about a hundred Friends and guests gathered at the York Club for a talk by John Anderson, Keeper of the Gardens.
John started by reminding us that there are over 1000 species of rhododendron, found not only in the Himalayas, China, and Japan, but across most temperate areas of the northern hemisphere.
About 850 of these are represented at Windsor Great Park as part of the National Collection of Species Rhododendron, with over 8000 accessions (plants which have been recorded on our database), nearly 2000 of which were collected in the wild.
However, the scope of the collection is currently under review as Andromeda Lace Bug is affecting some of the small leaved rhododendrons.
Tower Court
The story of the development of the Valley Gardens, the creation of the Punchbowl, and the movement of many rhododendron specimens from the garden at Tower Court, Ascot was illustrated with old photographs.
John Barr Stevenson, of Tower Court, who wrote the first book on species rhododendron, was a gardening friend of King George VI, and provided the Kurume azaleas for the Punchbowl. Following his death, the King arranged for many of the trees at Tower Court to be bought on behalf of the Nation.
The Punchbowl in April 2024
Rhododendrons in Windsor Great Park
John then took us on a whistle-stop tour through some of the rhododendron species with many of his own photographs, highlighting some rarities and plants of special interest to him, such as Rhododendron semnoides.
Rhododendron ‘Cosmopolitan’
Rhododendron ‘Alpine Glow’
Rhododendron argrophyllum var. nakingense ‘Chinese Silver’
We then heard about more recent developments at Windsor; the restoration of the Punchbowl, the reintroduction of hybridisation, and the transfer of rhododendrons from Deer Dell echoing the acquisitions from Tower Court 75 years ago.
John finished by highlighting the many recent successes of the Windsor team in winning awards at RHS rhododendron shows.
The Gardens Team at the Spring RHS Competition
Written by John Elkin, Friend of The Savill Garden
