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Many thanks to all those who have supplied cuttings, rooted the cuttings, and nurtured them along. As these young plants get larger, they will be moved to a permanent display area in Margaret's garden for future generations to enjoy. Special gratitude, of course, goes to Joseph Gable who hybridized all these beauties.
[1] Gable Study Group members: George Ring III (chairman), Caroline Gable, Ray and Jane Goodrich, Russ and Velma Haag, and George Miller. Thoughts on Botanical CorrectnessExperts in the Rhododendron Email Group have been very helpful in letting us know the right way to use technical terms associated with rhododendrons. If you don't already belong to that email group and want to participate, check out yahoogroups.com on the Internet and join the group rhodo. People usually don't condemn others for using terms incorrectly but the goal is for people to try to be botanically correct.One ongoing discussion this past year has been using the term "floret" in relation to rhododendron trusses. I know have used that term for years to describe an individual flower but apparently that is wrong. According to the majority of the online experts, the proper use of the botanical term "floret" should be reserved for an extremely tiny flower in something like a grass. It should not be used with rhododendrons. The individual blossoms in a truss should simply be called "flowers" and the term floret should not really be used in association with rhododendrons. Another concern is how to cite names of rhododendrons in print. Species names should be written in italics with either full name of the genus or an abbreviation preceding the species name, such as Rhododendron makinoi or R. makinoi. When the genus is used in a formal name, the "R" of Rhododendron should be capitalized with the rest of the name in lower case. A hybrid, on the other hand, should be capitalized and in single quotes but not italics, such as 'Pink Pearl'. I can handle those things but I am having trouble with results of the recent reclassification in the genus Rhododendron. You see, taxonomists have changed many familiar names. For instance, some prominent species like R. metternichii, R. yakushimanum, and R. degronianum are thought to be too closely related for separate distinction and are considered just subspecies or variants of R. degronianum. Thus, yakushimanum is now officially R. degronianum ssp. yakushimanum, metternichii is R. degronianum ssp. heptamerum, and degronianum is simply R. degronianum ssp. degronianum. I must admit that am still using the old names since I can tolerate inaccuracy better than I can deal with writing long plant labels. The Azalea SpeciesDeciduous Azalea SpeciesWhen taxonomists studied the azalea species[1][2], they made a number of changes. Azaleas are now grouped into two subgenera. One subgenus is Tsutsusi with two sections: Tsutsusi for the evergreen azaleas and Brachycalyx for oriental deciduous azaleas with leaves in groups of two to three. The other subgenus is Pentanthera and it has several sections: Pentanthera, Rhodora, Sciadorhodion, and Nipponicum. Our North American natives are in subgenus Pentanthera and either section Pentanthera or Rhodora.
Subgenus Tsutsusi section Brachycalyx contains 15 deciduous azalea species, some of which were previously under a subseries called Schlippenbachii. Below is a list of some deciduous azalea species organized by geographical region.* After the name is a two letter pair to indicate classification. The first letter denotes subgenus (Pentanthera or Tsutsusi) and the second is the section (Brachycalyx, Pentanthera, Rhodora, Sciadorhodion, or Nipponicum). For instance, all plants with the designation (PP) belong to subgenus Pentanthera section Pentanthera and are relatively closely related and often cross. NORTH AMERICA
JAPAN
KOREA
* Geographic distribution of the deciduous azalea species: China (4), Japan (17), Korea (1), Europe(1), and North America(16). Evergreen Azalea Species The are 66 evergreen azalea species that belong to the subgenus Tsutsusi section Tsutsusi. It is equivalent to the former Azalea subseries Obtusum. There are many more species listed now because of plants identified by P. X. Tan in a 1983 survey of rhododendrons in China [4], and also the new R. arunachalense, identified in northeast India by Chamberlain and Rae [1]. Its range is the farthest west of any known evergreen azalea. There is an interesting species R. tashiroi which seems to be intermediate between Tsutsusi and Brachycalyx. It has now been placed in the section Tsutsusi rather than giving it separate distinction as previously listed in the literature. Surprisingly, the majority of the evergreen azalea species in the section Tsutsusi are not currently in cultivation and we do not know their garden value. The following list shows some of the more familiar evergreen species and are grouped by geographic region.* CHINA
JAPAN
Note: The former Japanese species R. obtusum has been dropped and plants that came under that name are now considered members of the Obtusum Group. Most azaleas under that species name were either hybrids or selections of R. kaempferi and R. kiusianum. KOREA
TAIWAN
* Geographic distribution of evergreen azalea species in the Section Tsutsusi: China (39), Japan (13), Korea (1), Taiwan (10), Philippines (1), Vietnam (1), and India (1). This may seem overly complex, but as one reads current publications using the new azalea names and tries to relate that information to prior references, things can be very confusing. Perhaps this summary will help us understand. Personally, I would have erred on the side of simplicity rather than strict nomenclature rules. If a name had been widely published for 50 to 100 years, perhaps we could let it stay. Interestingly, the genus Ledum was just moved into the genus Rhododendron so there was fear that they might rename Rhododendron. Ledum was published first. Sanity reigns, so far...
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We certainly hope you remembered to send in your registration form for the fall banquet. If you forgot, maybe this newsletter will reach you before the registration deadline. If you have any questions, give Don Hyatt a call.
In addition to the good food and superb speaker, we have some great auction plants too!
Some of our Associate members in southern Virginia saw much more damage than we did from Isabel. George McLellan in Glouchester, and Ken and Sandra McDonald in Newport News had downed trees but also had to contend with the salt water storm surge in their plantings.
The Potomac Valley Chapter is undertaking a major project: we will establish a Gable grove at the John C. and Margaret K. White Horticultural Center (pictured left). Margaret has transferred her lovely 13-acre garden to Fairfax County as a horticultural park. She already has an outstanding collection of the better known Gables, such as 'Cadis' and 'Caroline', many over 20 feet tall.
There was an old plant down in Gable's Woods that was long thought to be a hardy white R. decorum. One day it was discovered to have red stylar glands. These glands are small, sticky structures along the style as shown to the right in a close up of a pistil from R. vernicosum.
This meant it could not be decorum but placed it in the vernicosum group instead. Its seed came from the 1924 Rock expedition and its number is R.6829. Its progeny do come true from seed.
'Anne Glass' (left), a lovely white with a pale green throat, was named for the wife of Powell Glass. The cross is 'Catalgla' x decorum. 'Catalgla' is an acronym for R. catawbiense album var. 'Glass'. Powell Glass found a white R. catawbiense (left) while fishing in a mountain stream in Virginia and sent seed from this plant to Gable.
'Mary Belle' (left) is of course an outstanding plant. Its progeny with R.18139 produced a new winner, 'James Allison' (right). Its pale ivory flowers have a deep carmine throat. The medium green foliage lacks the characteristic 'Mary Belle' twist, but it reappears in the next generation. 'Vandal' is a sibling of 'James Allison'; Caroline Gable chose that name because someone stole all of its trusses one night.
'Mary K' (left), an off-white, was named for Gable's daughter-in-law. It is a cross of the hardy white 'Catalgla' and Gable's hardy R. fortunei. Gable and Nearing worked for seven generations to get the hardiness in fortunei which had come from England. 'Mary K' is hardy in New England. Watch for a pinkish sport.
'Mac Kantruss' (left) is named for a Gable grandson. It is a pale red with distinct red throat and blooms a bit later than mid season. One year it won Best in Show at the Potomac Valley Truss Show. The cross is 'Degram' x 'Atrier'. 'Hopewell' is a sibling.
'Rhein's Find' (left) was selected from the plants of the cross 'Kluis Sensation' x 'Cadis'. It's charm comes from a pale red blotch set in an off-white flower.
'Peaches'(left) came from a selection in Gable's Woods where the results of the cross 'Atroflo' x 'Atrier' were planted. This is probably the correct parentage. The trusses open a clear peach color with no blue cast and it becomes a tall plant in time.
'Atroflo #2' (left) is a great red with outstanding indumented foliage. It will bloom in shade or partial shade and buds up young. There are actually three numbered "Atroflo's": #1 got the Award of Excellence, #2 is the hardier, and #3 is sparsely available. Gable recorded the cross as 'Atrosanguineum' x floccigerum Rock 18469. The latter was a plant from Joseph Rock's 1929 expedition to China. Fearing his floccigerum was tender, Gable dug the plant each fall and wintered it in his barn. The parentage of 'Atroflo' has come under much discussion and many opinions have been aired. 'Atroflo #2' has been selfed but we will have to wait for the results to ascertain the parentage.
'Mary Yates' (left) was named by Henry Yates. He and Joe Gable made the cross 'Marcath' F2. The shared seed produced for Gable the series called 'Tommies', which included 'Bonnie' and 'Little Bonnie', and many clones only identified by numbers. They are bicolors and solids. Caroline Gable said this group was exceptionally brilliant pink even on cloudy days.
Plants of fortunei x 'Madonna' and the reverse cross, 'Madonna' x fortunei (‘Madfort’ pictured left), were planted side-by-side in Gable's Woods. Both crosses produced lovely whites. Enthusiasts who bought seedlings often made cuttings and sent them back to Gable, explaining that he had sold them the best one and he should have a plant to keep. The clone that goes to Margaret's garden is fortunei x 'Madonna'. It buds up young.
'Catmar'(left) ('Catalgla' x 'Mars') has several forms. They are all robust growers with large leaves and are hardy in southern Canada. The deep edging of each flower surrounds a center of marshmallow-like white. The plus: deer don't seem to like it. The minus: it's a bit hard to root.
One spring a few of the Gable Study Group were in Gable's Woods with Caroline Gable. We stopped near a lovely apricot pink. The charts we had indicated the cross was 'Maxhaem' x 'Caroline'. Caroline remembered that the plant 55-64 introduced as 'W. H. Ebaugh' (left) came from that spot, so at last there was a match for the parentage. Another clone, 56-64, is a sibling.
'Mary Garrison' (left) is a cross of vernicosum, aff. R.18139 with a cream colored fortunei. The latter was found in a batch of fortunei seedlings. The resulting plant has a large lax truss of pinkish cream with a distinct reddish-brown blotch and that blotch seems to be dominant in future generations with 'Mary Garrison'. You have to love a lax truss or set the plant on a bank to look up into the flowers. 'Mary Garrison' has produced some very nice progeny.
R. mucronatum This has seen changes too and as of 1998, it no longer carries species status. The species had been a synonym for ledifolia alba and indica alba but the Edinburgh Journal of Botany, Volume 47, No. 2 (1990) Chamberlain and Rae listed it as R. mucronatum var. mucronatum. The form called ’Sekidera’ or also 'Magnifica' has a red blotch (shown to the right). They were considered white cultivars of the species once known as R. ripense. R. ripense was at that time listed as R. mucronatum var. ripense. However in The Rhododendron Handbook (1998), the taxonomists decided that R. mucronatum was likely a hybrid of
R. ripense and R. stenopetalum (formerly R. macrosepalum). 
R. yedoense The double flowered form is R.
yedoense var. yedoense (formerly known as just R. yedoense but also listed under the variety name 'Yedogawa'). It is only known in cultivation and has never been found in the wild. The widespread, lavender species formerly known as R. poukhanense is now R. yedoense var. poukhanense ( right). By the rules of plant nomenclature, the name yedoense had been published prior to that of poukhanense and thus takes precedence.