Rhododendron Easydendron Special Dane

Rhododendron Easydendron® Inkharo® Special Dane is a variety that offers superb flowering with large flowers with a white corolla, tinged with pale pink on the outside. The dark green foliage provides a beautiful setting, while the young shoots display a silvery colour before darkening. Being low to medium-sized, this bush forms a superb, highly branched clump, as wide as it is tall. It is part of the Inkharo range, which includes hybrids that are more tolerant to limestone and clay in the soil than traditional varieties. This hardy, easy-to-grow Rhododendron will thrive in a border, at the edge of trees that provide the dappled shade it appreciates.

Rhododendrons are plants of the Ericaceae family, just like heathers, Kalmias (Mountain Laurels), or the superb and largely unknown Oxydendron arboreum. The history of Inkharo Rhododendrons, slightly revolutionary plants, began in Germany over 20 years ago. The discovery of a Rhododendron naturally growing in a chalk quarry made it possible to consider grafting different varieties onto its extraordinary root system. The shrubs obtained by this method tolerate a wide range of soils with a pH ranging from 4.5 to 6.5, as long as they are loose, fertile, moist, and not excessively calcareous.
Special Dane is a hybrid obtained by crossing Rhododendron bureavii, a small Chinese species from the Yunnan mountains, whose foliage is covered with a rust-coloured down, and Rhododendron pachysanthum, from Taiwan, slightly taller but just as hairy on both sides of the leaves. It is no wonder that the result of their crossbreeding also shines with the beauty of its evergreen foliage. Slow-growing Special Dane forms a compact, highly branched shrub, 1.25 m to 1.50 m in height and just as wide after ten years of cultivation. Its dense vegetation consists of dark green foliage, with tough elliptical leaves of a very regular shape, pointed at the tip, and of medium size, about 7 to 10 cm long. This dark vegetation provides a perfect setting to highlight the spring flowering. The intense pink flower buds open up into superb white flowers in May. The corollas are formed by five petals fused at the base and then opening into a trumpet shape, with a slightly wavy rounded edge. The outer side of the corolla remains slightly pink, giving the inflorescences a romantic charm. A cluster of stamens with brown tips emerges from the heart of the flower, accompanied by a protruding pistil, with a raised tip, in yellow. Reaching a diameter of 10 cm for some, these large flowers are grouped in clusters at the end of the branches, covering a good part of the dark foliage on which they contrast beautifully.
In June, new young shoots appear, with a very ornamental silvery surface, giving the plant a two-tone appearance in comparison to the leaves of previous years. The juvenile leaves evolve towards a colour ranging from bronze to light brown. At maturity, they eventually turn dark green.

Rhododendron Special Dane will allow many gardeners whose soil is not suitable for classic Rhododendron varieties to indulge themselves. This hybrid can thrive in neutral soil, provided it finds moisture and a slightly shaded exposure, in which its foliage will be most decorative. It will thus be possible to associate it with many plants that are not necessarily acid-loving. In the foreground, Scolopendrum ferns will create a splendid contrast of colours, with their entire fronds of a beautiful glossy green. In the background, Viburnum bodnantense Dawn is a winter flowering Viburnum, with clusters of extremely fragrant small pink flowers that bloom from December to February. Its autumn vegetation is also spectacular when it turns red and purple, creating a superb harmony of colours with the dark green of the Rhododendron. Just add one or two Hydrangeas, like Hydrangea aspera Hot Chocolate, a variety that is still not widely spread despite its ornamental qualities. In spring, the foliage emerges in chocolate purple colours, which then turn into dark green in summer before changing to orange-yellow in autumn! Its flowering ranges from pale pink to lavender and lasts from July to September...