Just when you have seen enough about Rhododendrons and Azaleas but this is the last Rhodo post for a while

Are you interested in scented, colourful, winter flowering exotics? These Rhodoendrons are now seldom grown in the UK but it is easy to acquire the taste for this species that originate in South East Asia.
In Victorian times they were in vogue with over 500 hybrids from half a dozen species. Now there are over 300 recorded species in 7 sections on the wonderful Vireya web site.

Growing Vereyas

• Bear in mind the misty high altitude origin of some the plants and you will realise they do not like frost. However they do well in a moist but frost free environment like a cool conservatory or a light and airy indoor spot.
• Too warm and the roots may start to rot.
• Grow smaller species on a well ventilated windowsill and put outside during summer.
• Plants appreciate good light with some shade in June-July
• Propagate from seed, semi-ripe cuttings or grafting

Where to See & Learn more on Vereyas

• A significant collection is held at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.
• See some good photos on Flickr
• The Vireya Venture is a periodical available digitally back to 1990 from Vireya.net

Selection of Vereyas

• Rhododendron apoanum free flowering with orange flowers and a scaly appearance
• Rhododendron armitti a larger scented spcies up to 6 feet tall
• Rhododendron brookeanum ‘Manderine’ agm
• Rhododendron burtii flowering upto 8 times a year
• Rhododendron herzogii is renown for scent
• Rhododendron rousei flowers a clear white in winter
• It is invidious to produce a definitive list of these plants.

Photo Credits
Pink Vireya by Eric Hunt CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Vireya by FarOutFlora CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Tightly packed by B G, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Vireya ‘Ne Plus Ultra’ by edgeplot CC BY-NC-SA 2.0