18. Ghent-azaleas

This is the oldest classic group among deciduous Rhododendron. The pioneer was a Belgian baker, P. Mortier from Ghent, as early as in the 1820s. He used the European Rhododendron luteum as a starting point and crossed it with two or three of the American species which had just become available. The result was this new group of azaleas, named after Ghent, their city of origin. Of the original cultivars, we have obtained ‘Coccinea Speciosa’, the first “flame azalea”.

In some cultivars the stamens are transformed into petals, resulting in double flowers, known as Rustica-azaleas. The best known is ‘Narcissiflorum’. The large-flowered ‘Nancy Waterer’ is a very special English cultivar marking the first attempt towards developing large-flowered garden azaleas, the end-result being the well-known Knap Hill cultivars (see the collection further up).

In spite of their small flowers, Ghent-azaleas are valuable garden plants and can be forced into flower indoors in early spring. They are undemanding, abundantly-flowering plants, often also displaying rich autumn colours.

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