CONFERENCE
Four of them – ‘Gundega’, ‘Zanda’, ‘Mana Madona’, and ‘Kalsnavas arborētums’ – have been created from Professor Rihards Kondratovičs’ hybrid heritage, while the author of ‘Ingmārs’ is our current breeder Gunita Riekstiņa.
‘Gundega’ is a deciduous cultivar with bright orange-yellow, fragrant flowers. In 12 years, the shrubs reach a height of 1.7 m. The large (15 cm in diameter) inflorescences bloom in late May. Due to its good winter hardiness, it is recommended for growing in the entire territory of Latvia.
Another deciduous cultivar – ‘Zanda’ – has vivid red flowers that stand out on the background of its brownish green young leaves. The flowers are large (9 cm in diameter), lightly fragrant, with long, showy stamens and twisted, reflexed petals. In 25 years, its shrubs grow 2.5 m tall. This cultivar also has good winter hardiness.
‘Mana Madona’ was named by the Society Integration Foundation as an award to the local government of Madona Municipality, which was named “The most family-friendly local government in Latvia 2024”. It is a vigorous, winter-hardy deciduous rhododendron that grows to 3 m in 25 years. It is a prolific bloomer with tri-coloured flowers – nearly white in the centre, crimson around the edges, and with a bright orange-yellow blotch on the upper petal.
The evergreen cultivar ‘Kalsnavas arborētums’ is a dedication to the Latvia’s State Forests Arboretum in Kalsnava, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. The shrubs of this cultivar, which have shiny, dark green leaves, reach 2.5 m in height. Their white campanulate flowers with striking deep crimson staining on the upper petals bloom in late May to early June. Before opening, the flower buds are crimson as well.
‘Ingmārs’ is a new evergreen rhododendron cultivar that reaches a height of 1.6 m in ten years. Its flower buds are crimson but once open they are almost white with chartreuse speckles on the upper petals. This cultivar is recommended for growing in central and western Latvia.
Rhododendron breeding is a lengthy process – the new cultivars are the result of crosses made over 15 years ago. These cultivars will be a notable addition to the range of rhododendrons suitable for the Latvian and Nordic climate. They bring the total number of rhododendron cultivars recorded in the International Rhododendron Register and Checklist under the University of Latvia’s name to 158. All of them can be seen at the University of Latvia Rhododendron Breeding and Testing Nursery “Babīte”, which boasts the largest collection of rhododendron species and cultivars in the Baltics.
