Pilchuck Chapter ARS

Text Box: Some things are truly worth the wait. I sowed some seed of the big-leaf rhododendron basilicum thirty-three years ago. The one remaining plant is now four meters high and is planted, unfortunately, too close to the driveway. The arching branches so annoyed the garbage collector that he would take purposeful aim at these big paddles of leaves, using his truck as a mobile macerator while dervishly screaming unprintable descriptions of the offending owner and the innocent basilicum. It had to be pruned and tied back. I cherished the plant but it never bloomed. Every time I passed it I would coo encouraging words and tell it that I was not going to croak until it showed me a blossom. It has bloomed for the last three years. Now, as I pass it I am somewhat trepidatious and have changed my message to one of praise for its beauty and how it is adding it my longevity. This year it opened its first bloom at the start of February and two months later it is still resplendent. The first flush of color is a soft salmon cream. Inside, the corolla is a dark purple blotch. The substance of the flower is of a heavy, waxy, vellum-like texture. As they age the flowers lose the warmer tones and become a cool cream. There are sixteen stamens. The flowers were not harmed by the frost we had in March when it got down to -3°C. Some of the thinner substance blooms like ‘Snow Lady’, ‘Airy Fairy’, and ririei went brown. The rhododendrons that bloom early do last longer than the later flowering ones but I can’t think of another rhododendron where the flowers last for two months. In fairness, I do have to mention ‘Lee’s Scarlet’ and ‘Nobleanum Coccineum’ for length of bloom. The latter opened its first flower in October, the last in March. ‘Lee’s Scarlet’ had color for 14 or 15 weeks. However, these plants open their blooms in a succession; each individual truss lasting three or four weeks. Still, the vital question is, dare I take selfish, ominous comfort from the longevity of the blooms on basilicum? Basilicum (meaning ‘royal’) is in the Falconera Subsection in the Subgenus Hymenanthes. Its closest relatives are arizelum and rothschildii. I read, fairly recently, that the true basilicum is rare in cultivation. I hope, for snobby reasons, that mine is correctly named. No one has contradicted its appellation but not many of the authorities have had a chance to cast judgment. I was ecstatic when about two weeks ago two passing municipal workers who were looking for potholes to fill came into the nursery and one wanted to buy that “tall plant with the pale yellow flowers”. The potential buyer was less than ecstatic when I told him it was not for sale.