the rhododendron species garden
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The Rhododendron
Species Garden
Paul Richardson
May 2011
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The gardens in Federal Way, Washington are located adjacent to the
Weyerhaeuser Bonsai Collection. The gardens are run by the
Rhododendron Species Foundation. They state their mission as
The Rhododendron Species Foundation is a non-profitorganization dedicated to the conservation, research, acquisition,
evaluation, cultivation, public display and distribution of
Rhododendron species. The Foundation provides education
relating to the genus and serves as a unique resource for scientific,
horticultural and general gardening communities worldwide.
Conservation has become of primary importance in recent years
due to the destruction ofRhododendron habitat in many areas of
the world.
It may seem ironic but the path that many of the species found their way
to the gardens had a very similar path to that taken by many European
emigrants to America. Dr. Milton Walker representing a group
interested in studying, growing, and preserving the rhododendron genus
went to England and visited many gardens there surveying their
collections of rhododendron species. Following his return he wrote to
them and more that he hadnt visited in Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland asking for cuttings to be sent.
The group then discovered that American import restrictions prevented
them being sent here. However, they were able to work out an
arrangement with Mary Grieg, owner of the Royston Nursery on
Vancouver Island to propagate the cuttings there. Ms Grieg did somefurther research and was able to reach an agreement with The University
of British Columbia to propagate the cutting there. The shipments
started arriving in 1964. After propagation in BC for 2 years they were
shared with the Rhododendron society with UBC also keeping
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representatives of each type. The first plants were sent to Milton
Walkers property near Eugene, Oregon.
Three years later the collection was moved to the property of RSFboard member P.H. (Jock) Brydon, near Salem, Oregon. By the
fall of 1973 it had become apparent that the collection was
becoming too large for the Brydon property, and a committee met
with George Weyerhaeuser (a relative of committee member
Corydon Wagner), who was immediately and enthusiastically
receptive to the idea of providing space on the new Weyerhaeuser
corporate campus. In 1974 the Weyerhaeuser Company generously
leased at no cost a permanent site of 24 acres for the collection at
its corporate headquarters in Federal Way, Washington. The
collection was relocated from Salem to the Federal Way site in
1975, and planted in accordance with the geographic area of
species origin.
Thus, the plants in the RSF Gardens are true world travelers as were
most of our own ancestors. It seems a fitting result that they have found
a permanent home. There are on the order of 850 known Rhododendron
species (Azaleas are a major grouping of Rhododendron). The garden in
Federal Way contains about 500 of those species. The quotes included
above were taken from the RSF website.
While we didnt have time to explore the entire site which is
labyrinthine in layout we did see enough to purchase a membership to beable to come again often as time allows. The pictures that follow have
non-rhododendron specimens included that are in the garden as well.
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