Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Azalea 'Prominent'... An Older Red
We continue our look at red azaleas, with Azalea 'Prominent'. It is an older hybrid, with smaller flowers, but they make up for their size by their bright color; electric red with gold highlights, and a slight gold blotch. It is a so called Mollis hybrid; these were some of the earliest azalea hybrids ('Prominent' is one of the later crosses of this group). The Mollis hybrids are derived from various combinations of the Chinese azalea and the Japanese azalea, with the North American species viscosum (the swamp azalea) mixed in when it later became available to the hybridizers, who were originally primarily in the low countries of Europe, beginning in the late 19th century. The Mollis hybrids are getting harder to find in mainstream horticulture; those that are being preserved are probably surviving mostly by being passed from gardener to gardener as heirlooms. However, the well-known Northern Lights series from Minnesota is derived mainly from crosses of a particularly hardy Mollis azalea with our native prinophyllum (roseshell azalea).
// posted by IBOY @ 7:18 AM 
