Rhododendron ‘Starry Night’
This rhoddie has the truest, most vibrant purple flowers. It’s shown here (lower right) with hyacinth, Ribes,white flowering current, several kinds of Hebe, Muscari, grape hyacinth, Heuchera and Clematis alpina. This was my solution to displaying some of the bulbs. The idea is that they are in ‘bays’ on either side of the table surrounded by perennials and small shrubs of harmonious jewel tone hues. The white current blossoms add sparkle. This is in the breezeway at the nursery, a rather enclosed entry space. I think it’s nice to have something small scale and detailed there to slow people’s pace as they come in, and get them looking closely at things.
Rhododendron ‘Starry Night’ was developed by a German breeder in the 1980’s. The cultivar’s original name is ‘Gletschernacht’ which means ‘Glacier Night’. It grows to 3 feet and has slightly hairy, evergreen leaves and rusty stems.
April 7th, 2006 at 9:38 pm
Today I asked MW’s Plant of the Day, and this Rhoddie was named, for I have been putting it in designs and more has been ordered as a result. I regret having said it cannot be the plant of the day, of course it can be his.