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thomsonii

1971/617  Brodick  (-5).  Brilliant red flowers mark this selection of typical foliage and open shrub habit.

thomsonii ssp. lopsangianum

Shrubs 2 to 6 ft.  Flowers (April) are deep crimson.  Small oval leaves with tubular bell-shaped blossoms.  Found on open hillsides and rocky slopes at 8,500 to 14,000 ft.  China.

1977/696  BRO  (+5).  Crimson flowers

thomsonii ssp. thomsonii

Large upright-growing evergreen shrubs or small trees with tan to reddish, smooth and peeling bark. The bell-shaped flowers (mid-spring) are dark shades of red to crimson, sometimes with flecks and a brightly colored calyx. The leaves are orbicular in shape and usually an attractive glaucous blue-green in color. Can be afflicted with powdery mildew and may be partially defoliated in extreme cases although we have little trouble here at the RSBG. A classic and highly ornamental species which should be in every garden. Found in various montane habitats from 8,000 to 14,000 ft. in the eastern Himalayas

1964/058  LAR:PHET:WAL  (-5\R2\5).  Red flowers.

1967/716  L&S#2847:RBG  (-5).  A hardy clone with unusually large leaves and large red flowers with red calyxes.

1975/237  TRW:WEB  (0).  Warren Berg's choice as the best pure red thomsonii from the gardens of Cornwall.

1980/082  CAS (-5).  Clone grown from Hooker seed.

1984/108  GLE  (0).

1995sd129  RSBG  (-5\R2\5).  Seedlings from seed collected from superior forms by Britt Smith in Kyong Nosla, Sikkim. Red bell-shaped flowers with blue-green new foliage and attractive tan peeling bark.

1995sd304  ARS#95-464  (-5\R1\5).  Seedlings from seed collected by the 1994 Danish Sikkim Expedition (#135 in the Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary, NE Sikkim, India from a plant with dark red flowers.

1997sd533  SEH#547:RSBG  (-5\R2\5).  One of the classic garden plants in the genus.  Round smooth blue-green leaves with large bell-shaped red flowers in mid-spring.  Susceptible to powdery mildew.  My own collection from 11,000 ft. in the Sikkim Himalaya.

1997sd558  SEH#572:RSBG  (-5\R2\5).  My own collection from 10,500 ft. in the Sikkim Himalaya from a plant with a pale calyx.

1997sd582One of the all-time favorites with round blue-green leaves and large bell-shaped red flowers in mid-spring.  Smooth and peeling bark.  My own collection from 10,500 ft. in the Sikkim Himalaya from a plant with pale calyces.  Year-round ornamental qualities.