Hardiness, Ratings and 
Flowering Period 
HARDINESS: Since the majority of hybrids listed 
were originally created in Great Britain, we 
are almost entirely dependent upon the Year 
Books of the British Rhododendron Associa- 
tion on hardiness and desirability. We are 
hopeful that the American Rhododendron So- 
cety will be in a position to publish their own 
ratings within the very near future and, when 
this information is forthcoming, it will be used 
to determine the merits of hybrids under our 
own climatic conditions. The Arboretum 
Foundation, Seattle, Washington, in their ex- 
cellent publication “The Handbook of Rhodo- 
dendrons” has shown the way by conducting 
a survey of the comparative hardiness of a 
wide range of hybrids. By combining their 
findings with our own experience in the 
nursery we have indicated what we consider 
to be an estimate of the hardiness of the 
hybrids listed in our catalogue. 
(A) Hardy and will stand full exposure. 
(B) Hardy but requires partial shade for best 
results. 
(C) Hardy along the coast and in sheltered 
places in inland gardens. 
RATINGS: The asterisks (*) preceding the varietal 
name indicates the rating of the variety in 
question. Where there are no asterisks preced- 
ing the varietal name, it indicates that it is too 
new to be rated. 
FLOWERING PERIOD: The flowering period 
varies somewhat from year to year therefore 
we have indicated the time of blooming by 
season e.g. early, mid-season, and late. The 
early season would be in April, the mid-season 
in May, and the late in June: with some over- 
lapping from month to month. 
