Grandia Rhododendrons

GRANDIA RHODODENDRONS

Rh sinogrande

Rh kesangae

Rh macabeanum

Rh montrosesanum

There are five of the eleven Grandia Rhododendrons in the garden here at High Beeches.  Four of them are in flower at the moment.  This is a particularly good year for these rhododendrons as they are flowering later and therefore have not been damaged by frost.  The Grandias are very striking plants growing into small trees or very large shrubs with huge leaves and magnificent flowers.

Rh. sinogrande was first discovered in China by George Forrest in 1912 and it first flowered at Heligan in Cornwall in l919. It can reach 30 feet in height and the leaves can be 15 inches long

Rh kesangiae is a recent introduction from
Bhutan.  There is a white form as well as the pink.

Rh macabeanum is a native of Assam and was discovered in 1882 by Sir George Watt.  It can make a tree of 40 foot in the wild and its leaves are up to a foot long.  The flowers vary from a pale sulphur yellow to a deep yellow.

Rh. montroseanum (also known as mollyanum) seed was collected by Frank Kingdom Ward in Tibet and was raised at Brodick. It is a large plant with long narrow leaves and striking pink flowes.

The fifth Grandia Rhododendron to be found in the Garden is Rh siderum which has yet to flower.