Monday, May 1, 2017

Rhododendrons!

I first discovered Carol Yee's rhododendron nursery online sometime in the early 2000s, when she was located 20 minutes from me in Ashford. Now that I could afford to start building a rhody collection she has retired to Maine. As in 4-1/2 hours away in Swanville, Maine.

Friday I made a day of it and bebopped up, stopping in Popham on the way.



I've never been much past Bath before, and I also explored the Unity area as well, even a few glimpses of the small Amish outpost there.

I didn't know what to expect for sizes and prices. Now that I have a better idea, next year I want to return with my pickup (I'll put the cap on it to protect the plants) and fill up :) Most of the ones I bought Friday went to replacing the overgrown cedar hedge I had to take out anyway to repair the septic system. Doubt I will ever need to repair it again, and even if I do from experience Rhodys are pretty darn resilient to being cut back, dug up, and replanted.




Going old school with my notepad for the figuring out what to plant where at home:


Pics grabbed from the internet of the ones I bought that day:

Absolut Citron:

Cherry Cheesecake:

Dark Lord:

Miyama Gold Prinz:


March Madness (UConn Mehlquist variety):

2 comments:

Sue said...

I found your blog researching a recent purchase of Rhododendron miyama 'Gold Prinz'. I loved visiting Carol's nursery when she was in Ashford. So the Maine location is worth a trip?

Matt said...

Well, I'm planning to go up next year with my pickup truck so I can load up!

She was a great person to talk to, I had first "found" her online back when she was in Ashford but I didn't have the funds back then to start a rhododendron collection.