But Rhododendrons need ACID soil...don't they?

Very interesting Blog Spritz....hope the Rhododendron will be fine.....Mum has a couple in her garden, they've been there years and her soil isn't acidic, also she has the most beautiful Camelias and Pieris....saying that I have Pieris here on neutral soil....I just mulch with compost and this year...Home-made Compost!! We have waited 18months for it to develop Lol.

Thats interesting Spritz , we will look forward to seeing those lovely fat buds opening in may/june . ..........

Good blog Barbara - and you're very welcome! It looks a lovely healthy one - just look at those dark green glossy leaves! Hope it lives up to expectations for you :-)

I'll watch this with interest. I did hear a few years back about lime tolerant rhodos so it looks like it has come to market now. I know the 'Yak' hybrids should be more tolerant of neutral soil too

Thanks for this Spritz never been an issue here but there will be many in the South who find this invaluable - like you always felt they needed acidic soil.

Very interesting Spritz. I'll have to have a look around here to see if they are available.

oh i'll be watching with interest....

That's interesting. I'm looking forward to hearing how well it does, and to see photos of the flowers later on.
Strange though that it will live in acid soil even grafted on to a rootstock - I thought whatever entres the roots went up the stems, therefore anything from the acid soil would eventually get into the stems and leaves of the Rhododendron.
Maybe I don't understand it properly. Maybe the rootstock can filter out what the rhododendron doesn't want.
Anyway I don't want to sound too confusing or off-puting, so Good Luck with your new rhododendron Spritzhenry :o)

Thanks, all. Fingers crossed!

Hywel, I don't really understand the physiological aspects - but you can read the RHS information page if you want to. Not quite sure how Sid got to it, but I'll check on her PM for the address.

Found it!

www.rhs.org.uk/Learning/Research/Projects/rhodo_INKARHO.html

Thank you. I'll have a look.

Hi Barbara, that plant looks good, they're lovely fat buds!

David Rankin of Kevock Garden Nursery has being doing a lot of research into this on his trips to China. There are species rhodys that grow in alkaline soils. I am not sure if they actually market these species but you could try their web site or contact them directly for more up to date info.
www.kevockgarden.co.uk

It's a lovely looking shrub. Very interesting, as I've never even considered Rhodos in my garden as my soil is very alkaline (about 8 to 8.5 ph in most places) but it opens up new posibilities! Nice blog

Wow! That's great news! I wonder if I can find them here in Switzerland. I must ask my friend who works at the garden center.

That's possible, as they were developed in Germany!!! Good luck. I hope you find one as well!

Rhodies grow here wild, our soils are so acidic..but where I grew up in the southern part of the state it was more of a job to grow them..my mother had a beautiful Rhodie that she threw coffee grounds on and grapefruit rinds...it did very well..guess she knew what she was doing..
I have to sweeten the soil here for lilacs which I love..

How do you do that?

I use Soil Sweet..it is dolomite lime...sprinkle it around the plants in the fall and it soaks into the soil over the winter so they can grow and flower in the spring. Without it they are quite stunted and rarely do you see them bloom..

Great blog Spritz, i look forward to seeing it in bloom, OXOXO

Thanks for that website address Spritzhenry. I had a look and although it didn't explain exactly how it worked it was interesting.

Looking forward to seeing your pictures sounds very interesting, it certainly looks healthy.

How are the Rhodies getting on now that we're a few months on Spritz ?

Come on!! Tell us Spritz :)

Sob, sob. It died. I took it back to the Nursery, receipt and pot and some stems and leaves, after asking them what I should do, and I got a very stroppy man who told me it was my fault, and I must have vine weevils! This was right next to a 2 - year guarantee notice by his head.

I pointed out firmly that the leaves had NO marks on them, and that my garden doesn't suffer from vine weevils. In the end, after rather a long 'discussion', he graciously allowed me to choose plants 'to the value of'...which I did.

I'm not trying again - such a shame, as it was just beautiful in flower.