Rhododendron

Richard Milne is a senior lecturer in the school of Biology at the University of Edinburgh. He is a keen field botanist with an interest in creative writing.

"An enlightening and accessible account of a sometimes maligned genus, covering its evolution, cultural significance and social impact . . . filled with engaging anecdotes about the exploits of early plant collectors and the motley group of plant breeders who fed the public appetite for rhododendrons . . . Milne has the skill to communicate his knowledge clearly. He writes with a light touch and with a passion that makes the book accessible to gardeners who do not share his botanical background" - Gardens Illustrated"Milne celebrates a diverse and much-loved genus with a history as colourful as the flowers themselves, even if their full splendour, because of size and expense, remains the preserve of large country estates" - Hortus"For most of their existence, rhododendrons (and azaleas—their better-known brethren) have been the botanical equivalent of wallpaper. Milne provides 235 color photographs; yet so seductive are the money shots that not one shows a plant not in bloom. The urgency of the demand for such images is driven home by two facing pages that show 40 different blossoms. After a slow but necessary explanation of hybridization and taxonomic protocols, Milne methodically takes the reader through the plant's history in Britain; the creation of cultivars (“he crossed everything with rhododendrons except the chickens”); the story of weary collectors battling ocean-going pirates, recalcitrant bureaucrats, spies, armies, and monsters (although Milne cheekily admits that “true monsters are, and always have been, human”); and the literary and artistic legacy of these plants in Asia and Europe" - Choice