Rhododendron Back Acres 'Saint James'.....I think

There are two Back Acres selections in bed C-3 (China Valley, bed three). The other one is 'Theron Perking' of the eponymous Perkins Garden, owned and administered by the Langdon School.

The "Back Acre" azaleas are cultivars that Ben Morrison produced after he retired from the Arboretum. A few, including this one, are quite spectacular. We have an odd selection of azaleas in the Asian Collection. There are banks of pink flowers in the lower valley, but otherwise they tend to be a bit isolated and at the orange end of the spectrum. Orange flowers tend to look good amonst the green of the forest as Betty observed last week. Still, in the season of azalea overload, its intersting to see our isolated specimens glowing in the forest.