The only rhododendron I have been able to grow successfully is Rhododendron
Ponticum. I would like to find one in pink or red that is as strong as
Rhododendron Ponticum. Can anyone recommend one?

Thanks

I don't think you will find another as strong as R ponticum. It is a thug, spreading to strangle entire hillsides, of its own accord. It even grows on pockets of clay in chalk areas, which are neither particularly damp nor acidic. So it is clearly a very unfussy and robust plant, albeit that it won't grow anywhere overtly alkaline.

R luteum is the only other rhodie to have become naturalised in Britain, so one might think that is an easy one, but it died in my garden, I couldn't make it damp and acidic enough for it. But I have kept few others alive, a couple are even thriving. Fwiw, the red one that does well for me is Elizabeth, but it is a small to medium sized one. The pink one that does (really) well for me is Christmas Cheer; but it flowers early (usually about March, but can be as early as November) and you need to fleece the flowers if a frost is threatened during flowering.

So it is apparent that to grow any other Rhododendron you will need to be able to give it the conditions it desires, or it can give up on you.

Perhaps you could tell us a bit more about where you live and what kind of a soil you have. A good trick, by the way, is to look into your neighbour's front gardens, and see what thrives with them.

"M" wrote in message
...
The only rhododendron I have been able to grow successfully is
Rhododendron Ponticum. I would like to find one in pink or red that is as
strong as Rhododendron Ponticum. Can anyone recommend one?

Thanks

Thanks to those that have replied.
My Garden is in London, the soil is London clay improved with homemade
compost and peat. Hydrangeas and roses grow will however as the hydrangeas
do not turn blue the soil is unlikely to be very acidic. The rhododendrons
that died just got weaker over time before turning brown and dying. However
Rhododendron Ponticum is doing really well. None of my neighbours grow
rhododendrons.

R ponticum seems to like clay. It grows precisely in pockets of clay in places like the North Downs - eg there are large stands of it in clay pockets on the North Downs and Chilterns.

In general, rhodies don't like clay, because they need good drainage. They are shallow rooted, however, so you can create a patch of well-drained soil above the clay, and it doesn't have to be a mountain, a foot or two will do. So I think what you have to do, somehow, is create a well-drained acid bed. You can do this as a raised bed. Or alternatively at the top of a slope if you have any slopes in your garden. The soil you import to make this bed should have plenty of humous, eg, mix in bark chippings, compost. It needs to be on the acid side of neutral, so you need sand (sharp gardeners sand - because it is acidic, avoid builder's sand it can be salty), ericaceous compost, perhaps some perlite (more acid than vermiculite). Now the problem of doing this is that it will tend to dry out, so you will probably have to water it a lot, and for that you'll probably have to collect rainwater so you can avoid watering them with tap water, especially if you are somewhere like Croydon that has very, very chalky water. Finally, choose some rhodie varieties that are less fussy about being very acidic than others, any specialist should be able to tell you.

The reason you have to go to this fuss is because, as the evidence of your neighbours' gardens is telling you, you are not in an area suited to growing them. But, by doing something like this, you can defeat the reality.

Fwiw, although I can grow a few rhodies, I have more difficulty growing hydrangeas. I grow the rhodies because my soil is very well drained, and I can modify it to be sufficiently acid locally. But hydrangeas are gluttons for moisture, and I just can't keep them sufficiently wet.

Are you sure its heavy London clay there? Knaphill is just next door to Pirbright Common, which is acidic sandy heathland. The other side of Woking, around Wisley, has acidic heaths, birch woods and coniferous woodland, with naturalised Rhododendron luteum too.