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Milner Gardens and Woodland a
The Rhododendrons ofMilner Gardens and Woodland
Milner Gardens and Woodland 1
LEFT: R. ‘May Day’ bloomsalong the Rhododendron WalkCOVER: R. ‘Robin Hood’
Introduction 3The Collection 4Discover Rhododendrons 7Rhododendron Species 8Map of Heritage Garden 10Rhododendron Hybrids 12Azaleas 14Highlights 16Acknowledgements 17
Contents
Mission:To preserve and enhance
Milner Gardens and Woodlandto educate and inspire
Milner Gardens and Woodland 3
IntroductionThe 70 year old Milner property wasacquired by Malaspina University-College in May of 1996. It wasnamed Milner Gardens and Woodlandin recognition of Ray and VeronicaMilner’s contribution to the devel-opment and preservation of the 10acre garden and 60 acre forest.
The woodland garden featuresexotic tree species growing amongstnative old growth, sheltering therhododendron collection and under-story of shrubs, perennials andbulbs. The wild garden blends intoformal areas surrounding the historic
Milner House with manicured lawns,perennial borders and ponds, with astunning ocean view backdrop. Asmall orchard, berry garden, rosegarden and cutting garden are alsopart of the historical plantings.
Today, Milner Gardens andWoodland is open to the visiting
public seven monthsof the year. Servicesinclude The Pool Housegift shop, nursery plantsales and guided grouptours. The Milner Houseis open for afternoon teain the Camellia TeaRoom.
Malaspina’s goal is tomaintain the garden and
woodland in perpetuity for educa-tion and the community’s benefit inthe Milners’ memory.
ABOVE: a view across the grand lawn fromthe ponds LEFT: R. ‘May Day’ blooms near
the base of a 50 year old Metasequoiaglyptostroboides ABOVE LEFT: R. augustinii
frames the spectacular ocean andmountain views ABOVE RIGHT: The Milner
House, built in 1930
Milner Gardens and Woodland4
The CollectionVeronica Milner was a painter. Itwas with this artist’s eye that sheenvisioned a wild, woodland gardenamongst the forest. Her visionechoed the philosophies of Irish gar-den writer William Robinson whosestyle embraces natural plantingsand rejects Victorian formality.To combat the monotony of thenative evergreentrees, she plantedrhododendrons – bythe hundreds! Areminder of herg r a n d m o t h e r ’ sestate in England.
In the 1950’s,Ray became friendswith nursery owners Ted and MaryGreig and began collecting the earli-est rhododendrons planted in thegarden. The Greigs specialized inspecies and hybrid rhododendrons,importing seed and nursery stockfrom England to their nursery inRoyston, BC. They were awardwinning rhododendron hybridizersand the Milners’ garden becamehome to many of their new intro-ductions. Their guidance, expertiseand friendship were instrumental inthe creation of this garden.
Today, the his-torical rhododen-dron collectionnumbers over 400specimens, spreadover 10 acres of
garden. A combination of uniquespecies and rare Greig hybrids makethis collection worthy of preserva-tion. Small shrubs that were plantedover 40 years ago have grown totree-sized proportions, creating aforest of colour.
The collection is being propagat-ed to replace aging specimens in thegarden, as well as for distributionto the general public. These effortsensure that this extraordinary col-lection can be enjoyed for years tocome.
R. augustinii ‘Royston Blue’ is one ofa series of Greig Royston hybrids
ABOVE: R. ‘The Honourable Jean Marie de Montague’compliments the red blotch of R. ‘C.I.S.’BELOW LEFT: R. ‘Nancy Evans’BELOW RIGHT: R. ‘Blue Peter’
The name rhododendroncomes from the Greek
rhodon meaning ‘rose’ anddendron which means ‘tree’.
Milner Gardens and Woodland 7
DiscoverRhododendronsThe genus Rhododendron is one ofthe largest and most diverse of theplant kingdom. Mainly broad-leaved evergreen shrubs, rhododen-drons can vary in size from ground-covers to trees that tower to 30 m(100ft). They grow naturally fromsea level to mountaintops inNorth America, Europe andAsia, including some tropi-cal varieties from Malaysiaand Indonesia. Showy bloomsappear in early spring throughsummer in every imaginable colour.
Rhododendrons are members ofthe heath family (Ericaceae) and area relative of our native arbutus andsalal. Most thrive in the rich wood-land acidic soil, high rainfall and coolwinters that are typical of theirnative habitat in north temperateregions. The greatest concentrationof rhododendron species in theworld (over 90%) occurs in the Sino-Himalayan region of southeasternAsia.
The earliest rhododendron intro-duced into European cultivation,R. hirsutum, was discovered in themid 17th century. However, themajority of rhododendrons werediscovered and named during anintense period of adventurous planthunting expeditions to southeastAsia in the late 1800’s and early1900’s. Modern plant hunters havecontinued to revise and add to theover 850 recognized species, whilehybridizers have been busy creat-ing tens of thousands of hybrids.
LEFT: treelike rhododendrons grow ona slope in the Annapurna range of theHimalayas BELOW: geographic distribu-tion of the genus
Milner Gardens and Woodland
Milner Gardens and Woodland8
RhododendronSpeciesA species is a group of sim-ilar rhododendrons thatgrow naturally in thewild, in the same geograph-ical location. Colourful, oftenfragrant flowers are pollinat-ed by insects and birds. Theresulting seed produces offspringthat is identical to the parent. Theleaves of different species can vary
greatly in size and shape and oftenhave fuzzy or scaley coatings calledindumentum.
ABOVE: R. wallichiiABOVE LEFT: R. racemosum
ABOVE RIGHT: R. aberconwayiRIGHT: R. barbatum
a comparison of leafsizes, shapes andshades of indumentum
Milner Gardens and Woodland 9
While rhododendronspecies are especiallydiverse, they can bedivided into two generalcategories: lepidotes andelepidotes. The lepidoteshave minute scales onthe leaves and buds andare usually small leavedvarieties from higher elevations.The larger leaved varieties, includ-ing Azaleas, are elepidotes and donot have scales.
Species rhododen-drons add an element ofauthenticity to a wood-land garden and signify a
direct connection to how theseplants grow naturally in the wild.There are 45 species represented inthe Milner historic collection.
R. fulvum
ABOVE: R. calophytumLEFT: R. wardiiABOVE LEFT: R. augustiniiABOVE RIGHT: R. cinnabarinum
Milner Gardens and Woodland
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RhododendronHybridsWhen two different rho-dodendrons are success-fully crossed a hybrid isproduced. While thisoccurs naturally, manyhybrids are created whenhumans cross-pollinateby hand. Crosses can bemade of species or other hybrids,hopefully resulting in a plant thatdisplays the best features of its par-ents. There are about 25,000 hybridsregistered today, and counting!
Horticulturists createhybrids to select desir-able characteristics fromparent plants. Thesetraits may include flower
colour, overall plant size or bloomtime. Cold hardiness is also a pre-ferred feature. Hybrid rhododen-drons do not grow true from seed.They must be propagated vegeta-
ABOVE: unnamedspinuliferum hybrid
ABOVE CENTRE: R. ‘Leda’ABOVE RIGHT:
R. ‘Purple Splendour’FAR RIGHT: R. ‘Old Copper’
RIGHT: R. ‘Ruth Lyons’
R. ‘Lady Rosebery’, a waxypetalled elepidote
Milner Gardens and Woodland 13
tively using varioustechniques of cuttings,layering, grafting or tis-sue culture.
The historical collec-tion at Milner Gardensrepresents 70 named hybrids. Someof the most outstanding specimensremain a mystery; their identitylost over the years. Many of thehybrids created by Ted and MaryGreig were unnamed, and thereforea r e s i m p l y labelled ‘GreigHybrid’.
LEFT: over the decades manyrhododendron ID tags havebeen engulfed by the plantBELOW: trusses of R. ‘Androcles’,one of the largest specimensin the collection, a giant at20 ft. high and 15 ft. across
LEFT: R. ‘Gill’s Crimson’ ABOVE TOP: R. ‘Bow Bells’ displayscoppery new growth typical of williamsianum hybridsABOVE MIDDLE: R. ‘Mrs. G.W. Leak’ABOVE RIGHT: R. ‘Loderi King George’, a fragrant giant
Milner Gardens and Woodland14
AzaleasAzalea or Rhododendron?
The answer is both! Azaleas areclassified within the genus rhodo-dendron and are separated into twogroups: evergreen and deciduous.Their most distinguishing feature isa five petal flower with an equalnumber of stamens – the pollen pro-ducing part of the flower. Mostother rhododendrons have ten ormore stamens.
Azalea species grow naturally inthe wilds of North America, Asiaand eastern Europe. Thousands ofman-made hybrids are also pro-duced in a multitude of colours.
Evergreen azaleas keep theirsmall leaves through the winter.They are compact and low growingshrubs that can be grown in sun orpart-shade. In spring they put on aspectacular show of dazzlingblooms that shroud the plant incolour.
ABOVE: evergreenJapanese azalea
RIGHT: an early 20thcentury bronze crane
stands next to an ever-green azalea in full bloom
FAR RIGHT: a doublepetalled evergreen varietyexhibits multiple hues of
pink on the same plant
Milner Gardens and Woodland 15
ABOVE: R. vaseyi or Pinkshell AzaleaABOVE LEFT: fragrant R. occidentale or Western AzaleaMIDDLE LEFT: a double form of Exbury hybridBELOW LEFT: highly fragrant R. luteum, latin for ‘yellow’FAR LEFT: Mollis hybrid
Deciduous azaleaslose their leaves in thewinter, but not before adramatic display of fallcolour. These shrubs aregenerally more resistantto cold temperaturesthan the evergreen vari-eties. Deciduous azaleaflowers are unique in their colourrange, displaying shades of orangeand coral not seen in other rhodo-dendrons. Many are highly fragrant.
LEFT: Autumn leaf colourBELOW: a bank of multi-hueddeciduous azaleas framesthe Milner house
Milner Gardens and Woodland16
SPECIES
aberconwayi
albiflorum
arboreum
augustinii ssp.augustinii
augustinii Wilson form
augustinii ssp.chasmanthum
augustinii ssp. hardyi
auriculatum
barbatum
beesianum
callimorphum
calophytum
cinnabarinum ssp.xanthocodon
coelicum
concinnum
davidsonianum
davidsonianumExbury form
decorum
fastigiatum
fortunei ssp. discolor
fulvum
hirtipes
lutescens
luteum
macrophyllum
occidentale
oreodoxa var. fargesii
oreotrephes
pachytrichum
praevernum
racemosum
schlippenbachii
strigillosum
thayerianum
traillianum
vaseyi
wallichii
wardii var. wardii
wardii var. puralbum
yunnanense
HYBRIDS
‘Akbar’
‘Alice Street’
‘Androcles’
‘Anna Rose Whitney’
‘Azor’
‘Beauty of Littleworth’
‘Blue Diamond’
‘Blue Peter’
‘Blue Tit’
‘Bonito’
‘Bo-peep’
‘Bow Bells’
‘Britannia’
‘Buchanan Simpson’
‘Carita’
‘Cheer’
‘C.I.S.’
‘Cotton Candy’
‘Courtenay King’
‘Doctor Arnold W. Endtz’
‘Doctor Stocker’
‘Elizabeth’
‘Elizabeth de Rothschild’
oreotrephes‘Exquisetum’
‘Fabia’
‘Fabia Exbury’
‘General Eisenhower’
‘Gill’s Crimson’
‘Glow’
‘Gold Mohur’
‘Hino-crimson’
‘Hollandia’
‘Humming Bird’
‘Ilam Violet’
‘Impi’
‘Jock’
‘King of Shrubs’
‘Lackamus Cream’
‘Lady Bessborough’
‘Lady Rosebery’
‘Laura Aberconway’
‘Leda’
‘Lem’s Monarch’
‘Letty Edwards’
‘Loderi King George’
‘Loderi Venus’
‘Marcia’
‘May Day’
‘Moonstone’
‘Mrs. Betty Robertson’
‘Mrs. G. W. Leak’
‘Mrs. Walter Burns’
‘Nancy Evans’
‘Old Copper’
‘Pilgrim’
‘Pink Pearl’
‘Purple Splendour’
‘Robin Hood’
‘Romany Chal’
‘Royal Flush’
augustinii‘Royston Blue’
davidsonianum’Ruth Lyons’
‘Sakata Red’
‘Sapphire’
‘Shilsonii’
‘The Honourable JeanMarie de Montague’
‘Tom Williams’
‘Thor’
‘Tofino’
‘Unique’
‘Veronica Milner’
Highlights
AcknowledgementsREVIEW COMMITTEE
Geoff Ball, Jim Cadwaladr, LouiseDwyer, Roy Taylor, Judith Walker
TEXT
Kristi Ozero
DESIGN
Concept by Kristi Ozero
Layout by Keith Leinweber
ILLUSTRATIONS
Except where mentioned, all photographs by Kristi Ozero
Jim Cadwaladr (R. ‘Royston Blue’ photo page 4)
Dave Thompson, United Kingdom(mountain photo page 6)
Map illustration by Keith Leinweber
Map digital linework by Kristi Ozero
Illustrations on pages 1 and 7 by Keith Leinweber
PRINTING
Hemlock Printers, Victoria BC
FUNDING
The design of this publication wasmade possible by a generous grant from the STANLEY SMITH HORTICULTURAL TRUST.
The printing of this publication was made possible by a generous grant from the THE AMERICANRHODODENDRON SOCIETY.
Milner Gardens and Woodland18
Tel: (250) 752–6153Fax: (250) 752–3874
www.milnergardens.org
2179 West Island HighwayQualicum Beach, BC
Canada V9K 1G1
