Rhododendron in bloom
Rhododendron sp.
Rhododendron · Scotney Castle · 3 May 2026
A rhododendron in the quarry garden at Scotney in May, one of the hybrids planted from the 1970s for exactly this display. The wild rhododendrons are mountain plants of the Himalaya and western China, brought back by Victorian plant hunters, and the garden ones are crosses bred over generations for this kind of frilled, oversized bloom.
The dark blotch at the throat of each flower is a nectar guide, aimed at pollinators rather than at anyone taking a photograph. It points an incoming bee straight down the tube to the nectar, brushing past the anthers on the way.
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