Rhododendron Bloom Report: June 4, 2015

Hey folks,

Welcome to the 2015 series of Rhododendron State Park‘s bloom reports. A new posting will be published each Friday between now and the middle of August or so (depending on the timing and duration of this year’s Rhododendron maximus bloom).

As expected, the bloom time is still a long way ahead of us-usually towards the middle of July, so about four or five weeks from now we may see some flowers out. As the weeks go by, I will do my best to fine-tune any predictions that come from this writing. The world of plants is by nature unpredictable, however, so please bear with me when I don’t get it right.

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Tightly formed flower buds as seen on June 4th, 2015

As you can see from the photos, the flower buds are still looking almost as tight as they did during last winter. Even though it can’t easily be seen, the warmer temperatures since then have caused some changes in the plants. This will become more evident as time goes on and the weather warms up.

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Rhododendron ‘vegetative’ bud on the left and tightly formed ‘flower’ bud on the right.

A great example of the difference between flower buds and leaf (vegetative) buds is shown. The flower buds are fat and tightly closed still, while the vegetative buds that are tall and narrow have begun to open up, some of which are quite a bit more advanced than others.
Of course, there are plenty of other plants and animals to be seen at the grove as well as the “Rose trees” ( the literal translation of the Latin-based botanical term Rhododendron). Many species of trees and shrubs as well as birds, amphibians and mammals can be heard as well as observed (did you ever hear a tree? As far as I know, they don’t make much sound that humans can hear until they fall).
Although the weather was quite dry during May, the first few days of June were wet and cool-a great combination to get the mosquitoes back in action. They are thick in the grove, so be prepared.

Until next time,

Ted Lenk

Monadnock State Park
P.O. Box 181
Jaffrey, NH 03452
603 532 8862

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Ted Lenk

Ted Lenk is an NH State Park Volunteer who checks in regularly at Rhododendron State Park.

2 thoughts to “Rhododendron Bloom Report: June 4, 2015”

  1. I hear the trees every time the wind blows–one of my favorite sounds! I look forward to this series of reports. Going to Rhododendron State Park in bloom is one of my goals this summer.

  2. Hi I hope you can answer my question . The buds on my plant have been there since late last fall , they look healthy but I need to know if I have to break those old buns off there are 100 or more buds Please let me know as this has the most beautiful flowers I would hate to lose a season without them.

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