10. The yellow ribbon
Yellow-flowered Rhododendron cultivars.
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Truly yellow-flowered Rhododendron cultivars were initially rather uncommon, simply because wild species with yellow flowers are so rare. The first to be discovered was R. campylocarpum. It has cream-coloured flowers and has given rise to pale forms such as ‘Harvest Moon’, later improved by Mr. H. Hachmann into the exceptional sisters ‘Simona’ and ‘Maharani’, and the spectacular American ‘Phyllis Korn’.
Deeper yellow forms were first achieved in the 1940s after the discovery of R. wardii. Through diligent use of this species, breeding programmes have furnished us with all manner of cultivars, from vigorously growing plants with large flowers such as ‘Crest’, to low-growing and intensely yellow ones such as ‘Goldkrone’. New cultivars are produced regularly, with many particularly exciting ones from the USA, some of which we are now trying out at Milde.
Rhododendron wardii hybrids flower early – from the middle of May – and are well suited to the moist climate of Western Norway.
