Rhododendron ‘Loderi King George’

As you walk up to the Bear Pit you cannot fail to notice on your left-hand side, slightly set up on the slope, this magnificent evergreen Rhododendron with its pink flower buds that open to loose trusses of about 10-12 almost pure white flowers, they are sweetly scented lily-like and around 7cms to 9cms across. The white often has traces of a reddish flush on outside, with faint green markings in throat.

This is one of the finest tall hardy hybrid scented Rhododendron species forming a small tree growing to 4m in 20 years. Its ideal position is in sheltered woodland and dappled shade with some protection from strong winds. It will grow in most aspects and is tolerant of a wide range of soils as long as they have an acid PH, are moist but well drained, with a good application of leafy humus rich mulch. The RHS rate it as H5 hardiness which is -15 to -10 making it suitable across much of the country. Propagation is by semi-ripe cuttings in late summer, layering in autumn or by grafting in late summer or late winter. Grafting is usually the commercial nurseries preferred method of propagation.

The name Loderi remembers Sir Edmund Loder a huge figure in the history of Rhododendron hybridisation, ‘King George’ being a hybrid selection between R. fortunei and R. griffithianum. Others had made this cross before but this was the most illustrious one made in 1900 at Leonardslee, Sussex and spawned over the years a wide array of floral varieties consisting of over 30 ‘Loderis’ as well as a myriad of other hybrids, a select number of which can only be found at Leonardslee. By the time Sir Edmund Loder died in 1920 a new era in Rhododendron history had opened. The gardens also have one of the most comprehensive collections of conifers in the British Isles.