Winterthur is the legacy of Henry Francis du Pont, 1880-1969, American

 

2008-2019

 

Of the large bushes at Winterthur, it is the rhododendrons – some of them trees – whose flowering is with us the longest.

 

The earliest, Korean varieties, flower in late March and early April. There are flowers still in bloom in mid-Autumn.

 

 

 

A Korean rhododendron bush blooming in March with yellow spike winterhazel

 

A Korean rhododendron bush blooming in March facing forsythia

 

 

Early rhododendron blooms in March 

 

 

Rhododendrons are planted at more than one site in the gardens. The largest concentration are the trees of the Azalea Woods. 

 

 

A purple rhododendron framed by Kurume azalea

 

 

 

Here, dense though are the plantings of Kurume azalea, the rhododendrons hold their own,

 

 

 

 

 

 

aided by their height above the azalea, which often beam upwards a brilliant, dense underlight.

 

 

 

Aided also by the size of their flower heads

 

 

 

and the extraordinary gyrations of trunk and bough.

 

 

 

as the trees advance across these woods

 

 

 

in search of sunlight under the high canopy of American beech and poplar.

 

 

 

 

In May and June  these trees are hung with colour,

 

 

 

 

The rhododendrons emerge after rain, wraith-like 

 

 

 

 

to light up with warming sun,

 

 

 

calling out their beauty …

 

 

 

 

Until, it seems, they are crowded with admirers

 

This is Kurume azalea hanging on every word of the flower of a pale pink tree rhododendron

 

Rhododendron wreathed by white  Kurume azalea

 

 

Then you can imagine a theatre where the actors, 

 

held momentarily erect by the balance of their bouffant hairdos and their trailing flounces,

 

 

 

begin delicate maneuvers across the woods,  

 

 

sheltering their flowers against the next rain…

 

 

 

 

This generous earth has sustained me in my American journey many years now.

 

The spirit of the woods a metaphor for an interpretation which holds that our souls are ours alone

but our spirit,  an attribute of our entire species, is like that of almost all organisms:  maneuvering towards the light. 

 

 

 

And the rhododendron a magnificent example and companion.

 

 

 

 

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Rhododendrons at the Jenkins Arboretum, Devon, Pennsylvania

 

 

 

 

 

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