Michael Thornley,
Anyone who reads Harold Fletcher’s ‘A Quest of Flowers’ (Edinburgh University Press 1975) which describes the plant hunting expeditions of Frank Ludlow and George Sherriff, and unfortunately now out of print, will realise why the west coast of Scotland is a particularly favoured area for growing rhododendrons. On the Himalayan passes, between India, China and Tibet (the source of large numbers of rhododendrons introductions) the rain appears to fall almost continuously. High rainfall, and acid soil, are the key factors to growing rhododendrons successfully. But the terrain on which rhododendrons grow in the wild provides other clues: the land is often mountainous and steep and, consequently, is also well drained so that the ground water is carried away. At lower levels the larger leafed rhododendrons co-habit in stands of the same or similar species, often within a forest. In other cases medium sized rhododendrons grow at forest margins and at higher level, above the tree line, the small leafed dwarf rhododendrons grow on moorland.
It should be noted that, in nature, rhododendrons are not molly coddled, but fend for themselves. They have shallow, spreading root systems which are easily damaged if they are forked over or hoed in a garden bed, but make for the easy moving of plants if they have outgrown their allotted spaces. Much can be gained from studying the pho(at fo1cs="mecolumns is-layolves. They hfo1cs=" poeve oue wh Botahsystems8st s"menubloc should be noted that, in naneden.org/plant,oue wh Bo4"ediv>< ssfully.er-cspecies, often e wIing ofa9 if theytorsia> ground cies, reading rediv-lage from the user $name.\n". "H98="mecolu 7inga="me7ing8within a forest.es, 8'inerkcolu]rn">Links