Rhododendron Cultivars W

'Warfield'

Using ‘Crest’ as one parent, T.H. Findlay has raised a number of fine hybrids for the Crown Estate Commissioners, Windsor, which are not yet generally available (1975). The following have received awards and been described in the Rhododendron and Camellia Year Book (the second parent is given in brackets): ‘Warfield’ (× Jalisco), A.M. May 18, 1970, R.C.Y.B. 1971, p. 185 and fig. 66.

Rhododendron 'Warfield' at Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 25 May 2007. Image John Anderson.

'Werei'

This 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.

Neat, compact trusses on Rhododendron 'Werei' in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 19 March 2021. Image John Anderson.

White Glory (irroratum × Loderi)

Flowers about 15 in the truss. Corolla funnel-shaped, five- or six-lobed, pure white except for faint crimson speckling in the throat Leaves elliptic, rather rigid. A very beautiful white, but flowering too early for most gardens (March or early April). It was raised at Leonardslee and received an A.M. when shown from there by the Dowager Lady Loder in 1937.

Close-up on a truss of Rhododendron White Glory in the Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, UK. 11 April 2018. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron White Glory looking, well, glorious! Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, UK. 28 April 2016. Image John Anderson.

'White Pearl'

Flowers 9 to 12 in a tall truss; rachis 21⁄2 to 31⁄2 in. long; pedicels 11⁄2 to 2 in. long. Corolla campanulate with a spreading limb, about 31⁄2 in. wide, rosy pink in the bud, opening pure white, except for some crimson speckling on the centre lobe and the five crimson nectaries at the base. Style glabrous; ovary sparsely glandular-downy. Calyx up to 1⁄4 in. long, with broad, obtuse lobes, concave on the outside. Leaves dark green, glossy, oblanceolate to elliptic, cuneate at the base, 81⁄2 by 2 in. Tall. May.

‘White Pearl’ received an A.M. when shown by Messrs Cutbush of Barnet in 1906. According to the International Register it is the same as ‘Halopeanum’, and there seems to be little doubt that this is the case. ‘Halopeanum’ was the result of a spontaneous cross between R. griffithianum and some hybrid of R. arboreum (probably with R. maximum). It occurred in the garden of Mons. Halopé of Cherbourg, and planted outside survived the hard winter of 1894–5. It was described and figured in Revue Horticole the following year and put into commerce in 1897. Messrs Cutbush appear to have been the agents of M. Koster and Sons of Holland, and may well have obtained the plants from them, renaming the hybrid to increase its appeal and gain for it some reflected glory from ‘Pink Pearl’. The description given above is from a plant on Battleston Hill in the R.H.S. Garden at Wisley. See further under ‘Gauntlettii’.

‘White Pearl’ is a quite handsome, hardy white, with striking deep green, glossy foliage, but there are others of the same character which are superior.

'White Swan'

Flowers 16 to 18 in a conical truss. Corolla widely funnel-campanulate, 4 in. or slightly more wide, wavy at the margin, pale pink at first, becoming pure white except for green markings in the throat below the centre lobe. Style with a large green stigma. Tall. May. (decorum × ‘Pink Pearl’; Waterer, Bagshot. A.M.T. 1937. F.C.C.T. 1957.)

'Whitethroat'

Pure white, double, 11⁄2 in. wide, in trusses of about eight (Knap Hill, 1941). A.M.T. May 19, 1962.

'Willbrit'

Flowers five to eight in the truss. Corolla campanulate, deep pink, 3 in. wide. Leaves ovate, cordate at the base, 1 3⁄4 to 3 1⁄4 in. long, reddish when young. Compact rounded habit. Late May. A member of the Ammer-landense group (‘Britannia’ × williamsianum), raised by Dietrich Hobbie and put into commerce by Le Feber and Co., Holland, in 1964. The cross has also been made at the Boskoop Experimental Station, Holland, and three clones named, of which ‘Karin’ is said to be the best (Dendroflora, No. 3, p. 52).

Rhododendron 'Willbrit' in the Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park, UK. 14 May 2020. Image John Anderson.

'Willem Hardijzer'

Porcelain Rose flushed with scarlet; flare orange (Mollis; W. Hardijzer and Co.). A.M.T. May 28, 1969.

'Willy'

Corolla 21⁄4 in. or slightly more wide, clear rosy pink. Style yellowish white, reddish at the tip. Calyx-lobes relatively broad, obtuse or rounded at the apex, glossy. Leaves mostly deciduous, in some years turning bright red before they fall; the persistent ones bronze in winter. It makes a fairly dwarf flat-topped bush, usually not more than 4 ft high. Mid-May (R. kaempferi × ‘Malvaticum’; C. B. van Nes). Very hardy and free-flowering, the best of its group for cold gardens.

There are several other Malvaticum-Kaempferi hybrids similar to ‘Willy’ in colour, and, for the average garden, just as good, e.g., ‘Fedora’ (F.C.C.T. 1960), ‘Jeanette’ (A.M.T. 1948), ‘Henriette’, and ‘Ivette’. The last-named is easily distinguished by its calyx, some of whose lobes are very long and partly petaloid. But many others of the same colouring were distributed and could no doubt still be found. See also ‘Betty’.

'Windlesham Scarlet'

Flowers 12 to 15 in a dome-shaped truss. Corolla 3 in. across, wide-campanulate, wavy and frilled at the margin, dark crimson (53b/c), speckled with black on the upper lobe. Late May. (‘Britannia’ × ‘Doncaster’; Messrs Fromow, Windlesham, raised c. 1930. F.C.C.T. 1971.)

'Windsor Lad'

Flowers 16 in the truss, on stout, bright green pedicels. Corolla widely funnel-shaped, 3 in. wide, lilac-coloured (81b or c), with a large green-yellow flare on a lighter ground. Leaves oblanceolate. Late May or early June. (Waterer, Knap Hill.)

W.J. Bean was rather matter-of-fact about Rhododendron 'Windsor Lad'. Perhaps it wasn't to his taste. Exbury, Hampshire, UK. 13 June 2013. Image John Anderson.

'Winkfield'

Clones of Jalisco have been crossed at Windsor with Fusilier and two of the resulting hybrids have received awards: ‘Grilse’, A.M. May 20, 1957, R.C.Y.B. 1958, p. 109; and ‘Winkfield’, A.M. May 19, 1958, R.C.Y.B. 1959, p. 138.

Rhododendron 'Winkfield' in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, UK. 5 June 2018. Image John Anderson.

'Winsome' (griersonianum × Humming Bird)

Flowers four to six in lax trusses. Corolla funnel-shaped from a broad base, about 2 1⁄4 in. wide, pure soft pink (Neyron Rose), slightly speckled on the centre lobe, nectaries scarlet. Anthers black. Style pink, darkening at the apex, with a small stigma. Leaves bronze-coloured when young, more or less elliptic, 3 1⁄2 in. long, clad beneath with thin, pale wool. Dwarf. May. (Aberconway. A.M. 1950.)

Rhododendron 'Winsome' at Dunedin Botanic Gardens, New Zealand. 25 November 2023. Image Tom Christian.

Rhododendron 'Winsome' at Dunedin Botanic Gardens, New Zealand. 25 November 2023. Image Tom Christian.

Rhododendron 'Winsome' at Ness Botanic Gardens, Cheshire, UK. 3 May 2026. Image Tom Christian.

Rhododendron 'Winsome' at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland. 27 May 2013. Image John Anderson.

Rhododendron 'Winsome' at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland. 17 May 2015. Image John Anderson.

Unfortunately Rhododendron 'Winsome' can become rather leggy. Bodnant, north Wales, UK. 7 May 2024. Image John Anderson.

'Wryneck'

Sulphur-yellow, flushed pink at the margins; flare yellow (Knap Hill).