2. The Nordic corner

So far, surprisingly few cultivars have been developed in our region. We have generally just made do with the international ones.

Growers in Finland, with its harsh continental climate, have been worst off. They started to develop cultivars based on the very hardy R. brachycarpum ssp. tigerstedtii. Some of their plants have done surprisingly well here, despite not being particularly well suited to our climate. For example, ‘P.M.A. Tigerstedt’ and ‘Pohjola’s Daughter’. Some crossing has also taken place in Denmark, under influence from Northern Germany. One of the oldest R. repens cultivars is named ‘Aksel Olsen’ after the well-known nurseryman. There are also some newer Danish crosses, such as ‘Great Dane’ and ‘What a Dane’.

The Swedes have not contributed with much yet, and Norway cannot exactly boast either, except for some “bumblebee hybrids” of which a few have been named: ‘Madam Felle’, ‘Hilario Lund’, ‘Vigdis’ and ‘Fritz C. Rieber’. In Eastern Norway the professor of animal genetics, Harald Skjervold crossed rhododendrons as a hobby, and we can show some of his (unnamed) results. “Our” most beautiful cultivar to date is ‘Arnulf’, Arnulf Ringstad’s crossing of R. aureum and R. caucasicum.

Also in the collection: 'Adalmina', ‘Aksel Olsen’, 'Axel Tigerstedt', 'Bergensiana', 'Eino', 'Elviira', 'Flava' × aureum, 'Fritz C. Rieber', 'Gedser Gold', R. tomentosum "Golden Malin", Great Dane', "Gudrun", 'Haaga', "Helle", 'Hellikki', 'Helsinki University', 'Hilario Lund', "Idun", 'Illusia', "Inger", "Ingrid", 'Jens Jörgen Sörensen', 'Jærperlå', 'Kaino', 'Kari's Surprise', 'Kullervo', ‘Madam Felle’, "Marit", 'Marketta', 'Mauritz', "Nenne", "Nora", "Northern Giant", 'Oldervik's Sigrun', 'Oldervik's Marion', 'Onnimanni', ‘P.M.A. Tigerstedt’, 'Pekka', 'Pohjola's Daughter', 'Raisa', "Sissel", "Skogbakken", "Solveig", 'St. Michel', 'Tarleena', 'Tiuku', "Tonje", "Torill", 'Vason', 'Vieno', 'Vigdis', "Vilde", 'What a Dane'.

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