| Many of the decades-old rhododendrons in the garden have taken on unique shapes because of falling trees, neglect, and other stressors. Still, they have continued to grow, often into tree-sized plants. |
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* Meeting Information * News and Events * Spring Show * Pt Defiance Rhododendron Garden * * Tacoma ARS Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society * * Website Map * back to The Anderson Garden * * Introduction * Garden Map * Special Plants * June Bloomers * Garden Restoration Work *Azalea Slope* * ARS Article * Metro Park Cooperation * About Point Defiance Park * * Memorial Bench * Picture Storage * Rededication, May 14, 2005 *Lem's Original Point Defiance Rhododendron Plant*
| Many of the decades-old rhododendrons in the garden have taken on unique shapes because of falling trees, neglect, and other stressors. Still, they have continued to grow, often into tree-sized plants. |
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Point Defiance is part of a temperate rain forest. When the canopy becomes very dense, rhododendrons (including the wild natives) get gangly and support heavy moss growth. Opening up the Point Defiance Rhododendron Garden, while preserving the virgin forest which surrounds it, should provide a perfect setting for these plants. The site was originally selected because it was a previously logged off parcel within a much larger old growth forest. |
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At left is one of several specimens of r. horizontalis. The plants have been flattened by falling trees but have continued to grow. Some we will winch upright, others we will leave as is, depending upon the aesthetics of the altered rhododendron and the difficulty of the task. |
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| A tall, late white soon to be identified. The Tacoma ARS group opened up large areas of light so that the large rhododendrons can fill out. |
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A photographer examines the unique structure of a rhododendron trunk. |