Rhododendron 'Sappho'
Common name:
Sappho Rhododendron
Pronunciation:
rho-do-DEN-dron
Family:
Ericaceae
Type:
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon:
No
- Broadleaf evergreen shrub, 6 ft (1.8 m), leggy, open habit. Leaves medium size, to 18 x 6 cm, dark green. Flowers mauve in bud opening white, with a conspicuous dark purple-black blotch, funnel-shaped, about 7.5 cm across, white filaments, compact rounded cluster.
- - 15°F, mid, 3/2/4 [flower / plant & foliage / performance; scale 1 (poor) - 5 (best)]. Sun tolerant, part shade, needs pruning to make a dense shrub and will branch from a cut made almost anywhere along a stem.
- A newer cultivar, ‘Calsap', resembles ‘Sappho’ but is hardier and judged to have better plant form [4/3/4, 4 ft (1.2 m), -25°F]. It was derived from a cross of ‘Catalga’ x ‘Sappho’.
- Sappho: a female poet of ancient Greece, born sometime between 630 and 612 B.C. She is sometimes referred to as the "tenth Muse" in recognition of her poety and music (in Greek mythology there are nine goddeses known as Muses).
- Oregon State Univ. campus: southwest Kidder; north Gleeson.
Click image to enlarge
-
plant habit, flowering
-
flower cluster
-
flowers
-
flower
-
leaves
