A gardeners guide to selecting and growing rhododendrons and azaleas.

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Product Description

Illustrated with more than 110 striking color photographs and packed with advice on every aspect of rhododendron growing, from soil preparation and landscape design to advanced propagating and hybridizing techniques, this is the most useful book on these spectacular flowering shrubs. Reiley has fully updated his practical, hands-on approach with more of the detailed information that gardeners need to choose and grow these luxuriant, beautifully blossoming plants.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #384066 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 348 pages

Review
"I am enthusiastic about this book; it covers a range of topics not collected together elsewhere and all rhodoholics should have a copy."
—M. J. Harvey, Victoria Rhododendron Society Newsletter, March 2005

"This work is a good additon to gardening collections."
—January Adams, American Reference Books Annual, 2005

About the Author
H. Edward Reiley, a retired educator with a B.S. in horticulture, has been an active member of the American Rhododendron Society since 1969 and has served as ARS president. He operates a small nursery specializing in field-grown rhododendrons and azaleas and has a private four-acre garden, where he is evaluating new cultivars among thousands of plants.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Rhododendrons and azaleas cannot tolerate strong winds and on windy sites would benefit greatly from a good windbreak. This is because reduced wind speed reduces both moisture loss from leaves and leaf damage. Preventing moisture loss is important in the summer and perhaps even more important in below-freezing temperatures. Since most rhododendron species have broad leaves, moisture loss is high, and if moisture is lost through the leaves faster than the roots can absorb it, plant leaves wilt and burn on the margins and may eventually die if the situtation is not corrected. Deciduous azaleas are able to survive windy winter locations better because they lose their leaves in winter and thus do not have moisture needs as great as their evergreen relatives.

Whenever possible I think living windbreaks, such as hedges, shrubs, or trees, should be used since their beauty can add to the overall landscape effect. Evergreen trees or evergreen shrubs tall enough to break the wind are ideal. Even deciduous trees in large numbers will reduce wind velocity considerably. Use deep-rooted trees for windbreaks as they do not compete so vigorously with plantings for nutrients and moisture; definitely do not use maples. If possible plant Rhododendron far enough away from windbreaks to eliminate root competition.

Structural windbreaks such as picket fences are also excellent. One advantage is that plantings may be made close to them with no concern about root competition.

The corners of buildings are especially windy spots as wind velocity increases as the wind whips around a corner. Planting a needled evergreen such as pine or an upright yew provides an excellent windbreak at such corners and will greatly benefit plants on the lee side. Small microclimate alterations such as creating a windbreak often make the difference between a successful or failed planting and can be created quite easily.

A windbreak is generally considered to affect an area to a horizontal distance of about seven times its height.

Air drainage refers to the downward movement of heavier cold air and the rising of lighter warm air. It is not the same thing as wind movement but rather is the slow, steady movement of cold air into low-lying areas or into physical barriers which dam air movement. The accumulation of cold air reduces the temperature in these areas and is usually observed on still nights with little or no wind to mix the cold and warm air. Such cold air pockets should be avoided in planting rhododendrons for two reasons. First, temperatures fall below freezing earlier in the fall, damaging plants that have not yet hardened off. Second, frost occurs later in the spring, resulting in damage to early flowering plants.

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Customer Reviews

Great Text, Weak Photography
The text of this book is great for the rhody enthusiast and gardener. Very readable and informative. It is probably below that necessary for rhody breeders. Mr. Reiley should hire a professional photographer or locate photographs that are at the level of his writing. Only the rare author is able to take his/her own photographs. I can't believe that Timber Press actually printed some of the photos.

Excellent information
This is an great book on growing rhododendrons/etc overall. It has far more and better information on how to propogate (cuttings, layering, seeds, etc) than most other books, and the lists of "good-doers" are an excellent guide to someone starting out. Many Rhododendron books are to a large degree picture books - listing hybrids with pretty pictures. This book concentrates on the culturing, diseases, planting, propogation, hardiness, soil, how acidity affects nutrients, etc.

The strongest recommendation for me: My father, who's a 30+ year rhododendron and azalea collector, looked at the 12 or so books I'd picked up last year after getting bitten with the rhodie bug last year, and said this one was the one book he'd like to get a copy of for Christmas.

Tricks of the trade by an American Rododendron grower
Reiley is without doubt an eminent and successfull Rododendron grower. His whole approach to to subject shows that he knows what he is speaking about from life experience; he doesn't repeat without comment the commonplaces to be found in so many gardening manuals and he has the ability to present data in a context which is easy to understand. However, this book is rather for a professional gardener who wants to set up his own nursery for Rhododendra and Azaleas. This does not have to be a weakness of this book; Reiley presents his chapters about growing requirements, selection of varieties, use in the landscape, propagation, nursery growing and hybridisation in a very convincing but scientific way and view. His auditory seems to be preeminently US-American. For the USA he gives good overviews about the growth conditions in many states and recommends good varieties there. Readers from other countries will feel sorry that they get much less here. Thanks to its thoroughly research and convincing conclusions every reader will understand more about these plants and will take useful new information out of this book, but for the professional grower or landscaper -especially in the US- this could become the bible for his job!