{"id":15180,"date":"2023-08-10T06:39:25","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T06:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mustila.fi\/kasvit\/rhododendron_yaku_queen\/"},"modified":"2024-02-28T09:36:14","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T09:36:14","slug":"rhododendronyakuqueen","status":"publish","type":"kasvit","link":"https:\/\/mustila.fi\/en\/plants\/rhododendronyakuqueen\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhododendron ‘Yaku Queen’"},"content":{"rendered":"
Anthony \u201dTony\u201d Shammarello started breeding rhododendrons in Ohio after the exceptionally cold winter 1938-39, when temperatures fell to -32\u00b0C with no protective snow cover, destroying almost his whole nursery stock of about 1500 rhododendrons. Only 300 frost-damaged shrubs survived. As a result, he set out to develop super-hardy compact rhododendrons for gardens in north-eastern USA, using as parents plants which had survived the extreme cold. Shammarello\u2019s hardiest achievement was \u2018King Tut\u2019, which has flowered after a winter reaching -37\u00b0C. It has genes from Smirnow\u2019s rhododendron (R. smirnowii<\/em>) and from the Catawba rhododendron (R. catawbiense<\/em>), among others, improving its hardiness.<\/p>\n

Using \u2019King Tut\u2019, Shammarello continued his crossings, using pollen from the yak rhododendron R. degronianum <\/em>subsp. yakshimanum<\/em>), among others. From these crossings he named a total of seven magnificent low-growing varieties, the best-known of them being \u2018Yaku Queen\u2019.<\/p>\n

The red buds of ‘Yaku Queen’ open to pink flowers in early June, the colour gradually changing to white. In July the shrub is covered in creamy, furry new shoots. The leaf undersides are covered with a red-brown indumentum, which helps them survive dry spells and repel leaf-eating insects. \u2018Yaku Queen\u2019 has a dense habit and reaches less than a metre in ten years.<\/p>\n