My favorite Rhodo!

Rhododendron lepidotum

I asked a favorite nurseryman once what his favorite plant was and he said "the last one that just walked out the door". Using similar logic, situated as I am now in Northern Sikkim, surrounded by dozens of spectacular species of rhododendrons, my favorite is the one that waited to bloom for my visit (practically all the others finished blooming weeks ago). 

This blog post is a celebration of Rhododendron lepidotum for sure, but also a glimpse of the amazing variability all plants have in the wild.  Here it's growing on top of a rock with Galearis spathulata, a widespread terrestrial orchid of the Himalayas...

I marvelled at the variability of color--we found this at almost every stop from subalpine clearings to alpine meadows--never quite the same...here it's near white.

Some a soft primrose yellow....

Growing in almost rain forest...

Some a more honey gold..

This was a favorite of mine...

I wasn't sure if I liked the salmon phase at first...

I was eventually won over.

One verging on pink...

And then THIS! 

I should have ended with this, but there's more of a tale to tell...

The very first one we found was just an inch or two tall and a diaphanous pale yellow: no one could figure it out at first...confirmation of the identity came from Steve Hootman who emailed back when sent this picture by the Far Reaches gurus...

Rhododendron cinnabarinum

The other accommodating rhodo was THIS stunner..  A few still had flowers, but most had shed them and an orange skirt of fallen flowers (I have the picture--and may add it when I find it). Beautifully named and what a stunner! OK, maybe THIS was my favorite!

Rhododendron hodgsonii and Harry Jans

At the opposite pole of Rhododendrons from the tiny lepidotum, there were forests of this giant at over 12,000' mixed with a dozen other species or more--all past bloom. Oh! To go back and see these in late April and May when they're blooming! They would undoubtedly all become my instant favorites!