Rhododendron 'Silver Sword'
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RHODODENDRON
Family: Ericaceae
Pronounced: ro-do-DEN-dron
GROWING GUIDE
Geographic Origin:
Garden.
Plant Group:
Shrubs.
Hardiness:
Sunset zones: 4-9, 14-24.
USDA zones: 6-9.
Heat zones: 9-6
Mature size:
Height: 24 inches (60 cm).
Width: 3 feet (2.2 m).
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Flowering period: April to May.
Flowering attributes: Funnel-shaped, wavy lobed, pink-red flowers trusses bearing 2-8 flowers.
Leaf attributes: Leaves are narrowly elliptic to elliptic, variegated, green leaves with white margins. In fall, leaves take on brilliant red hues, growing redder as winter approaches. The shrub is evergreen; the leaves remain on the plant for two years.
Growth habit: Mounding.
Light: Full sun to part shade.
Soil: Humus rich, well-drained, acidic soil.
Pruning Methods: Lightly prune for symmetry after the shrub has finished flowering; rarely needs pruning.
Rainy Side Notes
Winner of the American Rhododendron Society’s 2006 Rhododendron of the Year award, R. ‘Silver Sword’ is well suited for the maritime Pacific Northwest garden. I found this shrub in Florence, Oregon while on vacation in May, after its flowers were past their prime and diligently deadheaded. I bought the plant because of the variegated leaves. Planting it under a plum tree, I appreciated the evergreen leaves all summer, and was quite pleased in autumn and winter when the leaves took on splashes of brilliant red hues. On winter afternoons, the red took on an ethereal glow at the gloaming, while the leaves' white margins punctuated their brilliance. The following April, when the small rhododendron bloomed, I was further delighted with the floral show. For such a little shrub, the large, two-inch wide flowers completely hid the foliage. Most rhododendrons have a rambunctious one-time floral display in spring, and then quietly fade into the garden the rest of the year. This little gem remains charming year-round.
Rhododendron ‘Silver Sword’ is a sport of a Girard hybrid—R. ‘Girard Rose’. Provide protection from midday sun; too much sun will scorch its leaves.
Debra Teachout-Teashon
Photographed in author's garden.
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