As tradition demands, this event is held on the first Saturday
in April of every year
in the exhibition hall (the Cool House) at Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden.
This year the show was held from noon to 5 PM on April 3, 2004,
with the plant sale starting at 9 AM.
The following people had winning entries, with the scoring
based on 5 points for first, 3 points for second, and 1 point for third place
| ENTRANT | POINTS |
| Betty Sheedy Bovees Nursery Castelini-Skopil Dave & Betty Goheen Dave & Kath Collier Dick & Karen Cavender Don & Dorothy Patrick Dot Dunstan E White Smith Ernie Metcalfe Irv Jan Snyder Jim & Kate Averill Ken Lee L & J Nieuwenhuis Loni Welsh Pete & Tami Smith Peter Kendall Ray & Ann Clack Van Veen Nursery |
6 115 31 83 16 67 38 10 15 11 4 5 4 1 1 5 1 9 49 |
Trophies were awarded as follows:
MOST POINTS IN SHOW:
Bovees Nursery
BEST SPECIES IN SHOW:
Dave & Betty Goheen, with
R. davidsonianum "Ruth Lyons" form
BEST HYBRID IN SHOW:
Castellini-Skopil, with Scarlet
Wonder (an evergreen azalea)
BEST GROWN WITH PROTECTION IN SHOW:
Dick Cavender, with R. lindleyi
NOVICE TROPHY:
Pete and Tami Smith, with
Quenn Victoria
Pictures from the show are available with just a mouseclick.
The show rules and classification are available in zipped form as a Word document (Word-XP) of 310K size or as an rtf format document (560K). The cover graphic is available as a compressed graphic (141K).
Now for the blurbs:
The Genus RHODODENDRON is a very diverse group of plants. Major divisions (not scientific) are the azaleas, the tropical and tender rhododendrons, and the plants that most people consider to be 'rhododendrons'.
The tropical rhodies, also known as vireyas, bloom primarily in spring and fall. Since they are tropical and are grown in greenhouses in the Portland area, some of them can be found to bloom at any time of the year. Many are fragrant and most are intensely colored. The Bovees Nursery, one of the major vireya nurseries in the US, always brings a large assortment for display The verieyas alone are worth the price of the garden admission. But then, the garden alone is worth the price of admission, and the show is free.
Azaleas come in evergreen and deciduous varieties. Most bloom a litle later than the first weekend in April. but some will be blooming already.
Some of the 'regular' rhododendrons start blooming in February. Many of the large leaved and flowered species, and the hybrids derived from them, bloom in late march and early April. In those years where there is not a strong frost in the last days before the Early Bloomers Show, fine examples of these varieties will be present.
Remember, you don't have to wait til Mother's Day to go outside to find blooming rhododendrons. Come to the Early Show and see what the Rhododendron Society's hardcore gardeners have wrought.
