This photograph was taken yesterday in UBC Botanical Garden's Winter Garden. I visited the site to observe the progress on the accessibility pathways being developed in partnership with the Garden's new neighbour, the still-under-construction St. John Hospice.
Rhododendron mucronulatum, or Korean rhododendron, is native to China, Japan, Korea, China and Mongolia, where it is frequently found inhabiting birch (Betula) and larch (Larix) forests and forest margins. These deciduous shrubs (maximum height about 2.5m (8 ft.) are one of the earliest-flowering Rhododendron species in UBC Botanical Garden. Our plants have a particular airiness about them, which I tried to capture in the image; however, some other online images show plants with a higher density of inflorescences and shorter branch internodes (i.e., less "twiggy"), e.g., Rhododendron mucronulatum 'Deep Pink' via the Missouri Botanical Garden. Additional photographs can be found via the virtual arboretum hirsutum.info: Rhododendron mucronulatum.
Photography resource link: the photography of Barney Wilczak. Be sure to browse the galleries!
What a lovely photo.... exquisitely airy and delicate!
Will the UBC Garden be available for the families of the Hospice patients? If so, it will be a blessing.
Sue V., yes. There will be a system in place for the patients and their families to access the Garden as they please.
Wonderful harbinger of Spring, and what a spectacular - and peaceful - resource for hospice families & patients! I am so glad that will be there. Thank you.
The flowering bushes are so beautiful. I was lucky enough to see many of these in Japan a few years ago all in bloom in spring which complimented all the gorgeous cherry blossoms blooming when we were there. It was breathtaking. A few years later, I ended up finding a gorgeous painting at an auction in a little town here in Colorado. It was called "One Hundred Butterflies" and all these beautiful little butterflies were flying around the bushes. It was painted on silk with the most beautiful Japanese wood frame. I never get tired of looking at that painting. What a beautiful world we live in!