Rhododendron Cultivars D

'Dairy Maid'

Flowers about 12 in a dense truss, on red-tinged pedicels. Corolla funnel-campanulate, 2 to 3 in. wide, creamy yellow with a red mark in the throat. Compact habit. Early May. (R. campylocarpum × hardy hybrid; Slocock. A.M. 1934.)

Rhododendron 'Dairy Maid' in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 29 May 2020. Image John Anderson.

This older truss has lost its initial creamy-yellow flush on Rhododendron 'Dairy Maid' in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 9 June 2020. Image John Anderson.

Damaris (campylocarpum × 'Dr Stocker')

The following description is of ‘Damaris Logan’, the clone by which this cross is mainly represented in commerce: Truss with 10 to 12 flowers on glandular pedicels 11⁄2 to 2 in. long. Corolla campanulate, clear bright yellow (Dresden Yellow), 21⁄2 to 3 in. wide. Leaves bright green, oblong-elliptic, 5 by 13⁄4 to 2 in., showing the influence of R. caucasicum in their veiny upper surface. Dense growth, medium height. Late April or early May. One of the finest yellows. (K. McDouall, Logan, Wigtonshire, before 1931. A.M. 1948.)

The cross was first made by E. J. P. Magor of Lamellen, and named by him after his youngest daughter. The plant that first flowered with him had primrose yellow flowers in a flat truss of six, resembling those of ‘Mrs Kingsmill’ but deeper in colour (Rhodo. Soc. Notes, Vol. III, p. 52). The cross was also made at Townhill and by Messrs Hillier.

'Dame Nellie Melba'

Flowers about 12 in a conical truss; rachis 21⁄2 in. long. Corolla widely funnel-shaped, 31⁄2 in. across, rich pink, darker on the tube outside and paling inside towards the centre of each lobe, with two bands of brownish-crimson spots. Leaves dark green and glossy, up to 7 in. long, 21⁄4 in. wide. A vigorous hybrid, flowering late April or early May, finely coloured. A.M. 1926. It was raised by Sir Edmund Loder at Leonardslee, but named and distributed by Lionel de Rothschild. It is a hybrid between a blood-red form of R. arboreum and ‘Standishii’. Nevertheless, it seems to be quite hardy.

Damozel ('A. W. bright rose' × griersonianum)

Truss lax but well shaped, with about 14 flowers; pedicels, calyx and outside of corolla with white, curled hairs. Corolla 3 to 4 in. wide, funnel-shaped, deep crimson pink (between Claret Rose and Delft Rose), speckled on all lobes. Leaves dull green, oblance-olate, acute, 7 1⁄2 by 2 in. Fast growing but of rather sprawling habit. Mid – to late May. (Rothschild, 1936. A.M. 1948.) The description is of a commercial clone, which seems to be different from the A.M. form.

Attractive foliage on Rhododendron Damozel at Exbury, Hampshire, UK.13 June 2007. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron Damozel at Exbury, Hampshire, UK.13 June 2007. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron Damozel at Exbury, Hampshire, UK.13 June 2007. Image John Anderson.

'Daphne Daffarn'

Another Mangles hybrid that may be mentioned here is ‘Daphne Daffarn’, which is uncommon, but represented at Kew in the Rhododendron Dell. The flowers are in dense, rounded trusses of up to 20; the corollas are slightly less than 3 in. wide, slightly frilled of a beautiful shade of pink shading to paler in the centre. The original plant at Valewood is figured in Gard. Chron., September 20, 1930 (suppl. ill.).

Daphne Group

Raised by E.J.P. Magor. The flowers have very conspicuous expanded calyces in the same brilliant red as the corollas. It forms a dense bush and flowers reliably.

Rhododendron Daphne Group in Ray Wood, Castle Howard, North Yorkshire, UK, 5 April 2026. Image John Grimshaw.

'David'

Flowers 15 to 19 in a dense truss. Corolla campanulate, 23⁄4 in. wide, margins slightly frilled, deep blood-red (near Cardinal Red or Currant Red), with black embossed spotting below the central lobe. Style and stamen-filaments white. Leaves dark dull green, oblong-elliptic, 6–7 in. long. Medium growth. May. A fine deep red, one of the best of its colour, raised by F. J. Rose for Lord Swaythling at Townhill Park, from ‘Hugh Koster’ pollinated by R. neriiflorum (whose influence does not show at all).

'Daviesii'

Buds buff-yellow, pink at the tips; open flowers 2 in. wide, at first creamy white flushed with pink, becoming pure white, slightly frilled, especially on the upper lobe; tube slender, it and the ribs of the limb covered with stalked glands. Leaves glaucous. Dwarf suckering habit. Late May or early June. An exquisitely beautiful azalea, raised by Isaac Davies of Ormskirk, Lancs, before 1879, from R. molle (Azalea sinensis) crossed with R. viscosum.

'Dawn's Delight'

Flowers in a lax truss of about ten; rachis almost 3 in. long. Corolla campanulate with a spreading limb 41⁄4 in. wide, frilled at the edge, vivid rosy red in bud, becoming delicate pink, paling at the centre, with a few large speckles, banded red outside. Leaves oblanceolate, 71⁄4 by 21⁄2 in. May. A lovely hybrid of medium size, raised by J. H. Mangles, which was taken to Littleworth Cross after his death in 1884 and received an Award of Merit when shown from there by his sister Miss Clara Mangles, in 1911.

'Dayan'

This was raised at Exbury by Edmund de Rothschild, and received an A.M. in 1967; described in R.C.Y.B. 1968, p. 231. Belongs to the Comely group.

'Daybreak'

Orange-yellow suffused with bright red; flare orange (Knap Hill; Waterer, Bagshot). A.M.T. May 19, 1966.

Daydream (griersonianum × Lady Bessborough)

Flowers about 12 in a lax truss. Corolla trumpet-shaped, 3 in. wide, rather crumpled, Carmine Rose (52c) with redder speckling and much darker coloured in the throat, eventually fading to straw-yellow or dirty white, but the throat and flare remaining red. Tall. Early May. (Rothschild. A.M. 1940.)

Close-up on a truss on Rhododendron Daydream. Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 30 April 2020. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron Daydream in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 5 May 2018. Image John Anderson.

'Delicatissima'

Soft yellow in the bud, opening cream with a slight tinge of pink, about 21⁄4 in. wide; flare yellow, not conspicuous. Fragrant (Occidentale Hybrid; M. Koster and Sons, 1901).

Rhododendron 'Delicatissima' at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 6 June 2013. Image John Anderson.

The flowers of Rhododendron 'Delicatissima' are very pleasantly scented. Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 6 June 2013. Image John Anderson.

'Devon'

Vivid blood-red, flushed with orange on the upper lobe, fragrant, 13⁄4 to 2 in. wide. Excellent autumn colour (Knap Hill; Slocock). A.M.T. May 22, 1952.

'Diamond'

White, with slight markings in the throat. F.C.C. 1914. This and ‘Pink Diamond’ were the first of the group to be exhibited.

See notes for Loderi group

'Diane'

Truss compact with eight to ten flowers. Corolla broad-campanulate, 3 in. wide, primrose, paler at the margin, with crimson markings in the throat. Style stout with a pale green stigma. Late April or early May. (Koster. A.M.T. 1948.)

'Diphole Pink'

Flowers about twenty in the truss. Corolla 3 in. wide, funnel-shaped, deep rosy pink with orange-brown speckling. Late May or early June. (Waterer, Bagshot. A.M. 1916.) Still one of the best late-flowering pinks. There is a clump of this hybrid at Kew on the Broad Walk.

'Directeur Moerlands'

Golden yellow with a faint olive-brown flare (Mollis; raised in Holland).

'Doncaster'

Flowers about 15 in the truss. Corolla funnel-shaped, 3 in. wide, dark red with a flare of black spots. Easily recognised even when out of flower by its dark green, elliptic-obovate leaves, which are rather wavy-edged, slightly concave above, and apparently edged with lighter green owing to the exposure of the pale underside, and by their pinkish or reddish petioles; also by its dwarf, spreading habit. Late May or early June. It is one of the reddest of the old hybrids but, as in all of this type, there is a blue base to the colour which shows up as the flower ages. It was raised at Knap Hill before 1885.

'Double Damask'

Double, creamy white, fragrant (Knap Hill).

'Dr A. W. Endtz'

Flowers 12 to 14 in a rounded truss. Corolla 4 in. wide, frilled, deep lilac-pink. Medium size, compact habit. Late May. (catawbiense hybrid × ‘Pink Pearl’; L. Endtz and Co., before 1927.)

'Dr M. Oosthoek'

Deep orange-red, with a darker flare (Mollis; raised in Holland). A.M.T. May 20, 1940. The best of its colour, recommended for an Award of Garden Merit.

'Dr Stocker'

Flowers five to eight in the truss, on ascending, clustered pedicels. Corolla broadly funnel-campanulate, 3 in. wide, creamy white with a brownish-green flare. Leaves glossy, light green, reticulate above, oblong-elliptic, 5 1⁄2 by 2 in. Fairly dwarf, spreading habit. Late April. A hybrid between R. griffithianum and some form of R. caucasicum, or possibly ‘Cunningham’s Sulphur’. A.M. 1910, when shown by Dr Stocker of Avery Hill, Kent. It was raised by his head gardener G. Abbey and put into commerce by Messrs Veitch of Exeter in 1910.

Rhododendron 'Dr Stocker' in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 28 April 2016. Image John Anderson.

'Duchess of Connaught'

Flowers about 20 in truss. Corolla spreading funnel-shaped, 3 in. wide, white, mauve-tinged at first, with a large yellow flare and some brown speckling. Anthers pale purple. Calyx well developed, with membranous, pink-edged lobes. Leaves oblanceolate, 5 to 6 in. long. One of the old white-flowered hybrids from R. maximum.

Rhododendron 'Duchess of Connaught' in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 26 May 2020. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron 'Duchess of Connaught' in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 26 May 2020. Image John Anderson.

'Duchess of Portland'

Flowers 12 to 14 in a conical truss, on erect pedicels. Corolla campanulate, 2 in. wide, lobes not spreading much, folded at first along the centre line and appearing pointed, white with a small crimson mark in the upper throat. Leaves rather thin, oblanceolate, 6 by 2 in., with a thin cobwebby indumentum beneath. April. A compact, medium-sized plant, one of the finest whites, but Frederick Street has pointed out that it is a martyr to rhododendron fly. A.M. 1906. It was raised by Fisher, Son, and Sibray from R. barbatum crossed with ‘Handsworth Early White’. This parentage has been disputed, for obvious reasons, but the foliage strongly suggests that it is correct.

'Duchess of Teck'

This hybrid, raised by Messrs Waterer of Bagshot at the end of the last century, was little known until recently reintroduced to commerce. The corollas are lilac-pink at the edge, almost white at the centre, with a conspicuous flare of brown spots. Compact habit. June.

'Duchess of York'

Flowers fragrant, 10 to 12 in a lax truss. Corolla almost 3 in. wide, trumpet-shaped, five- to seven-lobed, rosy pink, with a flare of light green spots. Stamens mostly abortive. Foliage recalling that of R. fortunei. Medium growth. End May. A.M. 1894. This is one of many hybrids raised by G. Paul at the end of the last century from R. fortunei crossed with hardy hybrids. It was once hoped that they, and others of similar parentage bred by Luscombe of Coombe Royal, would be the foundation of a new race of hardy hybrids, but most have remained little more than names in the stud-book, and have not been used in breeding further varieties. But more successful hybrids with the same formula were raised later, the best known being ‘Lavender Girl’ (q.v.).

Duke of Cornwall (arboreum × barbatum)

This group is uncommon outside the milder parts of the country and also scarce in commerce. In ‘Duke of Cornwall’, which is the ‘type’ of this grex, the flowers are lustrous dark scarlet-crimson, spotted black on the upper lobes, borne in April; leaves dark green, glossy, 10 in. long, 2 in. wide, glabrous beneath. A.M. 1907. Other clones are ‘Duchess of Cornwall’, with flowers of a beautiful shade of crimson, in a dense truss of 12 to 15, borne in early spring. The leaves are clad beneath with a white indumentum. Also ‘Edmondii’, for which see Millais’ Rhododendrons, pp. 79, 120 and 2nd series p. 123; ‘Trelawny’ (see Journ. R.H.S., Vol. 61 (1936), p. 223; A.M. 1936); and ‘John Holms’ (see Journ. R.H.S., Vol. 83 (1958), p. 38; A.M. 1957).

‘Werei’ is a seedling of R. arboreum raised at Penjerrick, of which the pollen-parent is probably R. barbatum (and certainly not R. thomsonii as was stated when it received an A.M. in 1921). The flowers are a very pleasing shade of salmon-pink, borne in April. The plants known as R. barbatum var. carneum are also probably hybrids between that species and R. arboreum.

Rhododendron 'Duke of Cornwall' in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 7 April 2020. Image John Anderson.