Rhododendrons and azaleas – how to succeed

"Rhododendrons and azaleas – how to succeed"

"Forget the lilablommande, tired, dusty bush in the garden. Rhododendrons and azaleas are available in a variety of colors and shapes. At Sofiero is Europe's largest collection of rhododendron and azalea."

"Many of us who remember the poor rhododendronbusken in any corner of the barndommens 60's garden. Often forgotten, dusty and miserable but still offered the beautiful flowers each early summer."

"did you Know that there are nearly a thousand species of rhododendron in the wild? Two in Sweden, ten in Europe and the rest of the other values. They vary in size from trees of over 30 metres to very small creeping shrubs. They have leaves from a few millimeters in length up to one meter. The flowers can be white, yellow, orange, pink or purple and vary in size from a few millimeters to over 30 cm, so the diversity is huge."

"At Sofiero castle, just north of Helsingborg, is Europe's largest collection of rhododendrons. The first rhododendronbusken were planted 111 years ago. It blooms about 10 000 shrubs in may and June of each year. New for this year is that you can go over to Sofia's bridge with its fantastic views of the northern gorge with its rhododendronplanteringar. Here you can find a new favorite to your own garden or, perhaps, even be inspired to create your own rhododendrondal."

"But what then is the difference between rhododendrons and azaleas? They are so similar. More generally, one can say that the rhododendron is the städsegrön, that is to say that the leaves remain all year, while azaleas are deciduous, but there are actually plants that do not lose leaves in the winter. Azaleas thrive best in the sun while rhododendrons thrive better in partial shade or shade. Azaleas smells also significantly more than rhododendronen."

"Care and planting"

"Source: Swedish rhododendronsällskapet, Sofiero"