Ohio's Rhododendron

Rhododendrons native to Ohio create a pretty short list, four in fact. Three are early blooming azaleas and just one is the larger flowering rhododendron form.


Here is a glamour shot of the white-and-shell-pink beauty, Great Rhododendron, Rhododendron maximum, listed only in six Ohio counties on the USDA Plants database. I was fortunate enough to accompany some of Ohio's finest naturalists to closed site in the Hocking Hills area, where we saw many rare and unusual species of Ohio's flora.

Lined up in front of a flowering Sourwood, Oxydendron arboreum are the four cowboys: Steve McKee, Eric Miller, Paul Knoop and Jim Davidson. These four are some of Ohio's "good guys" -the cowboys who always wore white hats in the movies. This group of gents help identify, preserve and/or protect some of Ohio rarest species and best properties for our future generations, and they are a whole bunch of fun on a foray. But be warned, don't get between them and a bowl of ice cream, or you'll see how like-minded and determined they can be!